Jazz at The Hedsor Bar is BACK

Yes, this Thursday January 15^th live jazz is back at Hedsor.

Just to remind you we have Frank Walden and James Fenn coming to play, alongside, Ken McCarthy, Al Pirrie, and Mike Jeffries. We’ve heard them before, so we know what’s coming—and it’s going to be special.

Here is a reminder of who they are: 

Frank Walden is a tenor saxophonist based in London and he performs regularly at Ronnie Scott's, the 606 Jazz Club and the Jazz Café.  Frank Walden is also known for Amy Winehouse: "I Told You I Was Trouble (Live in London) (2007)" as he was part of her backing band.

James Fenn is a guitarist and plays cool jazz guitar and together they make up part of “The Filthy Six” with an EP ‘Soho Filth, Live from Dean St Studios and Ronnie Scott’s' out now.

Ken McCarthy – is our regular keyboard man at Hedsor Jazz and is a very experienced musician with a long successful musical career.  From Amsterdam he toured Europe and Japan with visiting American Jazz stars. Then followed a career in TV, recording and orchestral work. He has always had a keen interest in "classical music"   As a musical director and arranger his credits include: "Bubbling Brown Sugar" , "42 Street" , "Barnum" and "Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.  And he was accompanist and director for Dame Vera Lynn.

Al Pirrie - is a versatile bass player with years of experience playing bass around Oxfordshire. Al's bass lines ooze groove and emotion, whether playing swinging jazz on the double bass or syncopated funk drops on the electric version.

Mike Jeffries – our drummer is a veteran of London’s jazz scene, Mike has played with leading UK jazz musicians and leads his own funky jazz band In the Pocket. AND he’s the man to see if YOU want to play at Hedsor Jazz!

The above information about the players is courtesy of Tracy Georgiades. If you would like information like that in your inbox before each performance at Hedsor do give Tracy your email address.

Just to give you a visual reminder of who this weeks players are here are a couple of photo from last year.

If you are happy to know in advance who is coming to Hedsor in the next couple of months do look at (and print) the poster art below.

 

If you enjoy our jazz presentations at Hedsor do tell others. Putting up our poster somewhere where people can see it will help.

In order to survive we need you to come out, (“Come Rain or Shine!”) and bringing friends would help secure a jazz music future.

So, here’s to a great jazz year.

 

Geoff C

 January 2026, and A Wednesday Blog!

And it’s all about reminding you that Hedsor Jazz wont have any live music until Thursday January 15^th, when our 2026 season starts with two escapees from “The Filthy Six”, saxophonist Frank Walden and guitarist James Fenn.

We hope that you now have this in your diary and that your diary has already been marked to show that our jazz nights are now the second and fourth Thursday of each month.

Sadly having a jazz session every week has become uneconomic for us until we can encourage more jazz fans to come on a regular basis. Our two jazz evenings a month system will still have the same high quality as before, and we will see how this goes until May, so do put these dates in your diary if you haven’t already done so.

Hedsor Jazz Thursdays:-

January 15^th and 29^th, February 12^th and 26^th, March 12^th and 26^th, April 9^th and 23^rd, May 7^th and 21^st

Frank and James have played for us many times at Hedsor in recent years, but James has an even greater claim to Hedsor fame as he was one of the young musicians who not only helped start live jazz at Hedsor, but he also introduced us all to Vasilis Xenopoulos.

 

I have produced a poster that may catch the eye of passers by, and doesn’t need replacing every month, so if you are in a position to download, print and display it please do.

 

Thinking of all the jazz that helped us on our jazz journey I have been catching up with some from my CD collection.

One CD played recently was of Alex Welsh and his band. Back in the 1970’s the Alex Welsh band came fairly regularly to The Bell in Maidenhead and two of the members from that band have also played either Hedsor, or The Fifield Inn. Trombonist Roy Williams and multi reed man John Barnes. The recording I played recently was a “live” recording from a concert they gave in Nottingham in 1967 which had as a guest another great star, trumpeter Ruby Braff. I saw Ruby Braff many times at The Brecon Jazz Festival, and he was an irascible person, but one who played beautiful jazz.

The recording of them playing together is on Lake Records LACD223. The Sound engineer at “The Dancing Slipper” in Nottingham, Allan Gilmour, used to record the sessions for his own use. This was fortunate for historic reasons and these private recordings are now finding there way into the more public listening of CD release. The music is excellent, and the sound balance reasonable. In those days electric keyboards were unheard of and “The Dancing Slipper’s” piano had a unique sound (!) but pianist Fred Hunt makes a fine job of getting the best out of it. This is a fine release and a release of some fine memories of sessions I was at.

 

 

Hi Everyone, the last blog of 2025! Wow how did that one go by so quickly?

Just to remind you all that our first gig of 2026 will be on Thursday January 15^th, where Hedsor Jazz will host saxophonist Frank Walden together with his colleague from “The Filthy Six”, guitarist James Fenn. A very suitable high profile event to start off our 2026 season.

Also just to remind you that our initial gigs for 2026 are going to be every 2 weeks, and the second one of the year will be on January 29^th, when we will have that wonderful swinging saxophone sound of Al Nicholls.

All our gigs are under the musical directorship of pianist Ken McCarthy, and our entry fee will be £12 per person, using CASH payment please. We are trying to keep our costs down to a minimum and don’t want extra bank charges if we can avoid them.

2025 Hedsor Jazz had some memorable gigs, with some great names helping us keep live jazz alive. In no particular order, but Alan Barnes and Dave Newton helped to distract me from the increasingly large number on my birthday cards that arrived in August. Steve Waterman and Gill Cook, Bruce Adams and Art Theman, Duncan Lamont Jr and Jennie Howe, Al Nicholls, Nigel Price, all came and helped us in the joyous creation of jazz music at Hedsor. And who can forget our Hon Chair, Vasilis Xenopoulos!

There were also names less well known, but there is a name that those lucky enough to have heard him more than once very much appreciate, Alam Nathoo, who during 2025 collaborated almost every month with Stuart Henderson to bring broad grins to many faces. Alam also has the ecological advantage of being able to walk to our gigs!

Thank you to all of you who have played for us, some at short notice, some almost every week. Those regular names include Ken McCarthy, Al Pirrie, Mike Jeffries, and Martin Hart. There are many others, we thank you ALL.

We aim to keep this same high standard going into 2026. We would like you, our audience, to come out and enjoy this music too. Audience, musicians and organisers are all needed to be joined together in the creation and presentation of our jazz experience.

Do look back on previous blogs issues. You can go back many years and see the changing faces and comments.

Yes, you will see many faces, pictures taken over the weeks and years to add visual colour to my text.

I do still have cd’s, many thousand of them, and I do still enjoy playing them. But comment on them less, as fewer are now bought and sold to comment on.

BUT, and it is a big but, the living performance is far better than the historic, however important some of the recordings may be. Last night I listened to a Buck Clayton recording made in 1959. It was live, before an audience in Stockholm. It wasn’t seminal, not one you just must have, but pleasant to listen to again. However I am looking forward to meeting again and listening to again the living musical creations of Frank Walden and James Fenn on January 15^th.  

Only by coming out to listen to them will you find if their music will be truly unmissable!

So God rest you merry gentlemen (and ladies!) as we enter 2026.

Geoff Cronin

 I Went Missing

Having spent most of October and November being checked out for bowel cancer, the result of the operation in November proved the lump to be benign.  I was told this, with great relief, over the phone on Monday 8^th December. On Tuesday 9^th, I went down with this years version of the flu, and I have had no energy since. It is not a good illness to have. Yesterday my temperature started to get back to normal, and I am able to speak again, just.

So I was unable to remind you that there was no jazz at Hedsor last week. However, I just want to put this note out to assure you that Hedsor Jazz’s Christmas Party will be taking place on Thursday December 18^th

Music, food and of course great jazz which should propel us into the festive season. 

Do come out and have fun, and help us finish off a year of ups and downs that Hedsor Jazz has had in 2025. Many friends have promised to pop in and play and help with the consumption of mince pies.

My pictures from the 4^th December are below. It was a superb session, and all who were there enjoyed remarkable music, played by Stuart Henderson, Alam Nathoo, Ken McCarthy, Ester Ng, and John Sargent

December already! 

Christmas is coming SOON, and like every year, it catches us out, well, I haven’t been shopping YET! Even after Black Friday and all those tempting special offers!!

BUT we do still have 2 more jazz days at Hedsor this year for you to buy into!! And one of them is THIS WEEK.

On Thursday December 4^th we have that wonderful combination of trumpet player extraordinaire Stuart Henderson coupled with saxophonist extraordinaire Alam Nathoo. Our usual piano led trio will be behind them, and you can expect musical fireworks. Come and enjoy jazz at its best. Entry is just £12, and the music starts at 8pm

 

2 weeks later and even nearer Christmas Day itself we will have our Hedsor Jazz Christmas Party on December 18^th

You can look back on previous blogs to see listed who we know are coming to entertain us (there may be others), but there will also be party food to sustain us on the night as well. Our layout will be reminiscent of the past (Ah Nostalgia!), and we expect a lovely social atmosphere.

I have been asked to invite those of you who are skilled in the provision of food to volunteer an item or two for our festive spread. If you feel you would like to help please let Peter England know asap. His email address is hscape@talktalk.net, or on his mobile 07884 964871

Last week was the last appearance this year for “our” Lester Brown on trumpet alongside saxophonist Martin Dunsdon. It all went so well that I thought I would attempt to use my old digital camera to video one of the tunes they played. Sadly although blogspot does allow video, it only allows 100MB of it, and my 6 minutes exceeds that 3 times over!

So below are a couple of my photos of the event!

 

Whilst laid up at home after my recent operation I was able to listen via some old, but perfectly formed Sennheiser headphones to a number of CD’s. 

On the Vasilis night he played “First Song (For Ruth)” composed by Charlie Hayden, I know I wrote up about it in the blog at the time.

So I dug out an album that had another saxophonist playing that tune, this time with only the accompaniment of a piano.

However that “other” saxophonist was Stan Getz, and that pianist was Kenny Barron! AND it was a live recording, AND it just so happened to be the last recording made by Stan Getz who died of cancer soon afterwards, a sudden capitulation to the illness he had fought off for a number of years.

It’s a wonderful recording made before an audience in Copenhagen over 4 nights in 1991. I do recommend that you go out and buy yours, it is now available on a double cd called “People Time” Emarcy 510134-2

 

I do sometimes listen to recordings via online apps, but I do feel more connected to the music if I actually own the means of playing it back. The sleeve notes and the sleeve art are part of that. In the days when to own a recording meant buying a 78, or an LP I parted with a sum of money. Seeing that I didn’t get much as an apprentice in 1955 such a purchase became almost a votive offering! Spotify free with adverts isn’t the same!! I can still hold in my hands some of my early purchases.

Enough for now, See you on Thursday.

PS Talking of Vasilis, do remember that there is a concert in Cookham’s Holy Trinity Church on Friday 5^th December featuring Vasilis and Paul Edis from 7.30 onwards. To check ticket availability see

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/cookham/holy-trinity-church/a-jazzy-christmas-with-paul-edis-and-friends/e-vzokjx

Geoff’s Blog

For over 20 years I have written a blog to raise awareness of the quality jazz that has been performed in and around Hedsor every week.

Today is another milestone, because this is the last time for the foreseeable future that I can tell you that there is live jazz every week in Hedsor.

From December on it will only be twice a month.

We have decided to reduce the frequency of our presentations but not the quality. 

Every month we will have top quality live jazz in The Hedsor Bar . 

BUT it will be TWICE A MONTH, not every week. Do keep an eye on my blog for dates and players.

Below is our poster for December and January 26^th

 

If we can attract more to our audience then this is a decision we can cancel. More REGULAR audience equals more gigs per month.

Do take a look at the gigs we have booked. Two top award winning jazz musicians for our first December gig. Trumpeter Stuart Henderson and saxophonist Alam Nathoo. For about the last 12 months we have paired these two wonderful players to bring to you outstanding improvised jazz. Come and also see how sight reading can be done!

Then for our Christmas Party on December 18^th the vocal skill of singer/actress Jenny Howe will be demonstrated alongside saxophonist Duncan Lamont Jr. Plus we hope to persuade many previous guests to come as “sitters in”. Plus finger festive food! AND it still leaves you time to get ready for Christmas.

 

Last week (pictures below courtesy of Peter England) we gave you the chance to hear that the future of jazz was in safe young hands. Matt Hill on trumpet and John Alcock on tenor sax. I was unable to be there but the tunes played were a mix of well know and little heard. “On The Trail” by Ferde Grofe and “Martha” by Eric Alexander being interesting additions to the usual tunes selected.

 

I have been absent for almost all of November’s Hedsor Jazz, and have missed some great sessions. This week I hope to be able to be with you all again to hear two long time supporters of jazz at Hedsor, Lester Brown on trumpet and Martin Dunsdon

 

ALL of our gigs are supported by our regular trio led by pianist Ken McCarthy

Thank you to all who have supported Hedsor Jazz over the last 23 years and an especial thank you to all the kind folk who have wished me well during these past few weeks. THANK YOU.