Monthly Archives: November 2023

FSJB presents P’Jam | The Butler, Reading

Fronted by the exuberant Annie Parker on flute and bass flute, P’Jam is a joyful quartet of musicians who simply enjoy playing jazz together  in sometimes slightly unexpected and spontaneous ways. With a repertoire that  spans Miles Davis to the Beatles, expect an evening of great music in good company!

Evening Jazz | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

BEAT at The Boiler Room | Patrick Hayes Crusaders

Featuring some of the UK’s finest session musicians performing music inspired by the legendary 1970s horn-led jazz-funk group The Crusaders. Think R&B, Memphis soul and hard bop inspired funk. Patrick is an instrumentalist, composer, and arranger who has worked with Snarky Puppy, Gregory Porter, Chaka Khan, Christina Aguilera and Van Morrison. Support: The Joe Garland Band

Annie Parker Collective | Henley-on-Thames

Sat 4 Nov | Annie Parker Collective | Marianne Windham upright bass, Lawrie Wright guitar, Tomson Chauke kit, djembe, percussion, vocals, Annie Parker flutes and various plumbing | Magoos** 22 Hart Street, Henley on Thames RG9 2AU | 7 – 9:30pm | To enable us to put on this evening of exciting music you will need to buy a Souvenir Ticket, or rather, a postcard of original artwork by Annie with a gig attached! Postcards are £5 from annie.parker@btinternet.com or on the door on the night (cash only).

What do you get if you mix a jazz bassist, a genre-hopping guitarist, a Zimbabwean drummer/percussionist/vocalist and a load of plumbing? – a flute-led group playing exciting music of course! Expect lots of bass flute, djembe drum, driving grooves and bad jokes!

** Magoos Bar in Henley has rescued this gig from the jaws of cancellation and offered the Vault for this performance.

Jazz Lunch | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Simon Cook

The Pete Allen Jazz Band | Newbury

Jazz at The Fisherman’s Cottage – Gareth Chelley Scratch Quintet | Reading

Every fourth Tuesday: next date 5 Dec

Live music. Free entry. Excellent food and drink. And a lot more space than the late-lamented Global Cafe. Who could ask for more?

Parking at The Fisherman’s Cottage, on surrounding streets or take an easy stroll along the Kennet from the Queen’s Road car park – park for just £3.60 for the evening. More parking information here

Jazz at The Four Horseshoes | Sherfield-on-Loddon

Tues 7 Nov | Equinox Quintet with Steph Pirrie | Steph Pirrie trumpet & vocals, Peter Bingham tenor sax, John Clarke guitar, Derek Alford bass, and Paul Kaluza drums | Four Horseshoes pub, Sherfield-on-Loddon RG27 0EX | 8pm to 10.30pm | Four Horseshoes | No charge for admission (donations are welcomed)

High Society Jazz Band | Theale

Guildford Jazz at the Cricket Pavilion | Mark Armstrong “From Miles to Marsalis”

Mark Armstrong is a member of the Ronnie Scott’s Orchestra. His trumpet playing encompasses the entire Jazz History. To hear him in a small band setting is especially rewarding – he has that feel good factor! This concert explores the ‘ Call and Response’ bands such as those of Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis. Watch out for spontaneous arrangements especially in the rhythm that will take everyone off guard – even the band! With Gareth Williams on piano, Clark Tracey on drums , Marianne Windham on bass.

Magoos Jazz Jam | Henley

Jazz at Progress | Chris Biscoe plays Mike Westbrook

Fri 10 Nov | Chris Biscoe plays Mike Westbrook | Chris Biscoe saxes, Kate Williams piano, Mike Outram guitar, Dave Whitford bass, Eric Ford drums | Progress Theatre, The Mount, Reading RG1 5HL | 7: 30pm | £19.00 (£17.00 concessions, £10 under 16) plus maximum 5% booking fee | Details

Evening Jazz | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Brian Throup

Jazz at Progress | Music Is: Chris Biscoe Plays Mike Westbrook | Buy tickets

Friday 10 November 2023 | Progress Theatre, Reading | 7: 30pm | £19.00 (£17.00 concessions, £10 under 16) plus maximum 5% booking fee.

Chris Biscoe saxophones
Kate Williams piano
Mike Outram guitar
Dave Whitford bass
Eric Ford drums

Music Is: Chris Biscoe Plays Mike Westbrook

The inspiration behind Music Is is a simple one: to celebrate the music of Mike Westbrook, one of the most important composers in jazz with a huge body of work from small band jazz through big bands and beyond, from the unique perspective of saxophonist Chis Biscoe who has worked with Westbrook since 1973.

Chris will be joined by a stellar line-up to take some of Westbrook’s great pieces out of their context and play them with a small jazz group as you might an Ellington, Monk or Gershwin song while always retaining their distinctive character.

The arrangements are simple or created in partnership with the members of the quintet. The title track, Music Is, appears twice, in its original ballad tempo, and in a spontaneous trio recasting as a medium tempo waltz.

The musicians

Chris Biscoe soprano, alto and baritone sax, alto clarinet, has worked with Mike and Kate Westbrook since 1979, from Mama Chicago and The Cortege through On Duke’s Birthday, London Bridge is Broken Down, Bar Utopia, Art Wolf and many other shows. Their closest and most enduring collaboration is The Trio, which has toured extensively and produced four records.

Kate Williams solos with a rare economy, combined with great rhythmic drive and invention. She plays in Chris Biscoe’s Profiles of Mingus and has released eight records of her compositions. Finding Home, which was staged at Progress in 2020, was the Parliamentary Jazz Awards winner for Best Album in 2020.

Mike Outram is a prodigious guitarist, whether playing jazz, blues or fusion music, and a long-term member of the Tony Woods Project. Credits include Tim Garland, Robert Fripp, Jacqui Dankworth, Julian Siegel, Theo Travis and Laura Rossi.

Dave Whitford’s unique sound is characterised by great depth and drive. He was a member of the fabulous Bobby Wellins Quartet with Liam Noble and Dave Wickins, and recorded Brubeck with the Liam Noble Trio. Credits include The Christine Tobin Band, Josephine Davies Satori, Hans Koller Ensemble, and Bill Frisell, Steve Lacy and John Taylor.

Eric Ford spent 4 years in Paris before returning to work in London. He works across a wide spectrum of music with musicians as diverse as Ronnie Laws, Marc Almond, Clare Teal, the London Jazz Orchestra and Jason Rebello. He’s also presented drum clinics in London and Beijing and played with Partikel since 2009.

The songbook includes

Music is: from On Duke’s Birthday is the closing piece from Mike’s celebration of Duke Ellington. Three great musicians and friends from the first performance have died and this is dedicated to Tony Marsh, Danilo Terenzi and Stuart Brooks.

Mama Chicago and Goin to Chicago: from Mama Chicago. I based the Goin’ to Chicago solos on note rows from the theme, rather than a chord sequence.

Aggro-Vancouver-Desperado: from L’ascenseur/The Lift

Returning late from a Dave Frishberg gig showed a different side of Vancouver to its light and airy daytime feel.

View From The Drawbridge: from Citadel/Room 315

The Citadel performance develops through several moods and themes. We use only one theme and perform it with a trio of soprano sax, guitar and bass. For Lois Barry and Bobby Wellins.

July ‘79: from The Cortege was a feature for Chris Hunter and Brian Godding.

Wasteground And Weeds: from Goodbye, Peter Lorre (Kate Westbrook)

Kate’s lyrics tell of strolling through the deserted streets of central and east London before the current stages of redevelopment. A dialogue between sax and drums.

Enfance: from The Cortege is a setting of a poem in French by Paul Eluard and was written for voice and big band. There are several themes and countermelodies, one has been turned into the main theme.

Graffitti: from The Cortege is an exciting big band instrumental adapted for solo outings.

‘Music Is: Chris Biscoe Plays Mike Westbrook’

‘I love this album. It is a pleasure to hear these great Westbrook tunes being treated by Biscoe as the standards they deserve to be.’ – Jane Mann, London Jazz News

You can find out more about Mike Westbrook’s recordings and their availability at www.westbrookjazz.co.uk

Stuart Henderson/Jonathon Lewis | Goring

Fri 10 Nov | Stuart Henderson trumpet/ flugelhorn, Jonathon Lewis tenor sax, Nick Hill piano, Howard King bass, Mike Goff drums | Goring Community Jazz Club,Old School House, Station Road Goring RG8 9AZ | Doors 7pm Band 7:30 pm | £10 | Tickets from here or from Inspiration The Arcade Goring-on-Thames. Cash or Card on the door

Jazz Lunch | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Lawrie Wright

Evening Jazz | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Mike Piggott’s Hot Club Trio | Oaken Grove Vineyard

Fri 17 Nov – Mike Piggott’s Hot Club Trio | Mike Piggott violin, Nils Solberg guitar and vocals, Richard Pite double bass | Oaken Grove Vineyard, Benhams Lane, Fawley, Henley-on-Thames RG9 6JG | Gates open 6.30pm, music from 7.30pm | £15 | Hot food is available to order on the night from the Little Urban Chef and is charged at £12 per head | Details and tickets

Fleur Stevenson Trio | Maidensgrove

Continuing the Five Horseshoes monthly jazz evenings. Fab food, full menu and bar, superb atmosphere, great jazz artists. Usually every last Friday of the month

Solo Jazz Livestream from Windsor, UK | Tom Neill

Tom is a multi-disciplinary artist and producer working throughout the UK as a composer, actor and theatre director. He is a founder member of Prime Studios creation space in Windsor and an associate artist of internationally touring Blackeyed Theatre. He lives in Bracknell. More here

Jazz Lunch | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Nigel Price Organ Trio + Vasilis Xenopoulos | Marlow

Part of a Nationwide tour and recently voted ‘Best Small Group’, with various guests added: it’s Vasilis at the Marlow gig. Advisable to reserve a seat or table, but pay at the door, phone 01628 486571

Guildford Jazz at the Cricket Pavilion | Iain Ballamy

Saxophonist, composer and ECM recording artist, is recognised as “a major international voice” (The Times) and listed in the BBC publication ‘100 Jazz Greats’. Luminous, freethinking, melodic, urbane, his work transcends genre and stereotype into an utterly original, always beautiful identity, all his own. “Ballamy…leaves you in absolute awe…the sheer virtuosity and sense of joy makes you feel like a kid about to step onto a twinkling, old-fashioned merry-go-round” – BBC. With Rebecca Nash – piano, Henrik Jensen – bass & Jeremy Stacey – drums

Jazz Jam @ Login Lounge | Camberley

Thurs 23 Nov | Jazz Jam @ Login Lounge, Camberley | Ian Thompson sax, Simon Cook piano, Peter Hutchinson bass, Michael Hall percussion, Fabio Iacono drums | Login Lounge – 34 Park Street, Camberley, England, GU15 3PL | 20.00 – 22.30 | Free entry.

Jazz musician? Come and hang out with your fellow musicians, network, chat and jam together, and watch the magic of improvisation and creativity flow! Music lover? Come along, grab a drink and watch the magic unfold! Info

Friyay with Limpopo Groove | Reading

Limpopo Groove is an established, upbeat, afro-fusion group for all ages and walks of life. Formed in 2009 by Tomson Chauke, they play infectious, lively music, inspired by their drummer and founder’s African homeland. With original songs written in Shona and English, they blend afro jazz with tribal beats and European influences to create catchy rhythms that crowds just can’t help dancing to.

Evening Jazz | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Brian Throup

Fleur Stevenson, Hugh Turner Jazz Duo | Didcot

Lianne Carroll | Blewbury

Liane has that rare ability to meld effortless, often transcendent, vocal and piano technique with heart-stoppng emotion and soul-baring power.

Original Jazz Funk Folk Fusion @ The Retreat, Reading | Jamie Howell’s Traces 3

Jazz Lunch | The Relais, Henley-on-Thames

Jazz @ The Retreat | Reading

The Roy Bailey Big Band presents ‘A Fairytale of New York’ | Goring Village Hall

Thurs 30 Nov | The Roy Bailey Big Band presents an evening of big band jazz inspired by the music and musicians of New York City | Goring Village Hall, Goring RG8 9AG | 7.45pm | £12.50 (£5 under 18s). Tickets available from www.roybaileybigband.com

November 2023
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Oct				Dec »
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

November 2023
M	T	W	T	F	S	S
« Oct				Dec »
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30