The Jazz Show

Roy Follows
Hello John Any chance yet of a vocal track by Carol Westwood.She,s Due with us at Stone in the near future

Mike Vawdrey
John - no doubt by the time this message comes up you will have explained this already on air but just in case. There are two versions of The Sound of Jazz - the one first issued on LP and later on CD was taken from the rehearsals for the show, hence the differences. Lester's contributions are almost unbearably poignant on both. Jan - Clare - my headful of useless fax'n'info requires regular top-ups due to the rapidly diminishing stock of 'little grey cells'so I do dip into my overladen shelves of reference books. My personal first call among these would be The Penguin Guide and even more The All Music Guide. The latter has not been updated in print form since 2002 but it includes quite detailed biographies of most musicians followed by concise critiques of many albums. Usefully they cover almost everything issued up to publication date irrespective of availability. The latest Penguin Guide dates from 2008. Again very thorough, carefully considered critical assessments and quite a lot of discographical info.The only shortfall is that they exclude out of print CDs. Hope this is a useful starting point - there's acres of stuff out there and I'm sure other listeners can come up with further ideas ! - best wishes - Mike

Josh
John: Fine and Mellow. Are there two takes of this memorable recording? The version you broadcast is different to the soundtrack of the TV video of the show. Both are brilliant but I reckon Lester's, Gerry's and Roy's solos on the TV version swing it for the Video-take.

Jan-Clare, exotic Ramsgate
Hi John - Another good-looking playlist this week (listening comes later, today). I'd like to ask Mike Vawdrey via your board if all his wonderful information is secreted in his head, or if he has some reliable encyclopaedia that he refers to? Mike, you obviously have a huge record collection, and seem to have something to offer about everything jazz-related, and I would love to have recommended reference books to find out more about my own records. I know there is a wealth of information on the net, but I prefer sitting down with a book, and would hate to invest in an inaccurate tome. Thank you for all your contributions over the years. JC

Geoff Marshall from Surrey
A great show. Just back from the Bull's Head in Barnes. Best on the BBC

Peter Astwick
Hello again John,I'm just listening to last Wed's programme on th'iplayer and it's very good (as usual).However surely the Lester Young item is "On the sunny side of the street" and not "I can't give you etc".I'm not a musician but am sure that my ears have picked out the correct tune.I have a version of "Sunny side" with the exact same personnel recorded in Aug or Nov 1952 which sounds (to my uneducated ears) to be the version you've played.Perhaps someone can confirm weather or not I'm right?Meanwhile keep on playing the good stuffRegardsPeter - Bolton.

Mike Vawdrey
John - noted with interest the Red Nichols tracks you played and your reference to The Five Pennies biopic - described variously as 'garish(David Meeker) and 'highly enjoyable if rather fictional'(All Music Guide.) You mentioned various musicians who participated in the film but you left out the 'big fish' i.e. Louis Armstrong plus his then(1959) All Stars. There was a soundtrack LP (have some on an ancient EP). Perhaps the film can be found on DVD ? It's good that Red Nichols has now been critically rehabilitated. He was after all one of the most influential stylists of the 1920s. He knew Bix quite well but it's a moot point as to whether he was influenced by Bix or whether they simply hit on broadly similar styles at around the same time. The situation has later parallels - Charlie Parker/Sonny Stitt for instance. Nichols and Stitt were great musicians - but there's no competing with genius ! - best wishes- Mike

Fred Stone
Forgive me for I guess that I was not listening properly, or perhaps dropped off as we old people do, for I missed the bit about Ian Christie - sorry.Fred.

Fred Stone
Unfortunately another member of Humph,s band died recently - Ian Christie, brother of Keith, who I think were in the band together. Certainly he and Wally Fawkes played in the band together. I remember seeing, and of course hearing, all the departed in Humph's bands over the years.Fred

Fred Stone
Last night, as usual, you had to break for a road traffic report. And what was said " no problems on road No1, no problems on road No2, no problems on road No3 etc" and so we lost a minute or so of some good jazz to tell us nothing. Why couldn't they just tell you that there was nothing to report and for you to tell us.Fred.

Brian.Heagren.
HIJON,I used to play Tbn with the Mardi Gras Society Jazz Band.(Stoke),I´ve got an old recording,we made in 1977 with George Chisholm.(yes,That one!)Can I Mail it to anyone?Brian.Heagren.(Germany).

Peter Brookes
Rob-glad you enjoyed your trip to Wigan Jazz Club at Lowton the other week. You're welcome anytime but you probably heard we're moving to a new venue in Wigan this month.Regarding Gary Copley's programme on Leeds ( Monday evenings ) the constant reference by the presenter to ' the home of Andrew and Georgie etc ' is a constant irritation throughout the programme but I'm sure it's not Garry's choice to have this constantly interrupting his programme. It's down to the station managers but there again how many local radio stations would devote three hours on a Monday evening to Jazz and Big Band music so I guess we must be grateful for what we've got. And let's face it even with John's programme on Stoke people are ' hopefully ' switching stations and could just discover the programme at any point during it's transmission. Keep up the good work John - the programme has been transformed under your stewardship.

Fred Stone
It is Sunday 6/3 and I am listening on the I Player and just heard your remark about things in the attic. We do not have an attic but I keep "rubbish" all over the place much to Gillian's disgust. Anyway having a tidy up this morning I found a card about an event for Worcester Jazz on 25 Jan 1985 "A tribute to Nat Gonella with Digby Fairweather Allstars. Do you remember that for I think Tiny Winters played?Fred

Rob Mee
Dear John,Just a quick couple of lines to thank you for your programme and choice of music.As a result of last weeks show and after listening to the BBQ group I decided to go to Wigan Jazz Club to hear more of them.They played brilliantly and it was well worth the journey from Stafford to Wigan (or Lowton as it was)as I was made very welcome by a friendly bunch of people.I shall certainly go again and will make a few visits for their Jazz Festival in July.On another point I was recommended,by one of their members to listen to the programme on Radio Leeds by Gary Copley and did so last night.What a very good three hours but it was spoilt for me,as mentioned by a previous posting,by Gary's completely over the top plugging the other presenters.To make it worse the final part of the prog is supposed to be "The Jazz Hour" but about five minutes of that was wasted by unnecessary chitchat with the presenter of the next progamme.How thankful we all should be that your programme puts the jazz listeners first without senseless plugging.I will be tuning in every Wed at 7.00pm

Mike Vawdrey
John - was a little puzzled recently when you played some Henry Mancini Peter Gunn tracks from the issue on Hot Record Society. Hadn't come across this particular reissue but there is another version on the recently launched American Jazz Classics label. Seems that the HRS CD is a single comprising Peter Gunn and More Music From Peter Gunn while AJC offer a double. The first disc is pretty well as per HRS while the second adds further versions of the Peter Gunn music conducted by Pete Candoli and Ted Nash/Maxwell Davis(a combined effort I presume).For those who really can't get enough AJC have issued a further CD combining Shelley Manne's (and his Men) Play Peter Gunn with Son Of Gunn!!(their exclamation marks). It's the latter which might have me reaching for the credit card as Son Of features the same edition of the Men(ne?)as the celebrated Live At The Black Hawk - now also reissued by AJC incidentally.'You gotta shop around' as somebody once sang ! - best wishes -Mike

Jamie Brownfield
Thanks for playing a track from our CD last week (Split Kick/BBQ) the gig went well at Wigan Jazz Club and we're now looking forward to the next one at The Victoria Hotel, Menai Bridge on 25th March at 8.30pm. Great show, Jamie Brownfield (trumpet).

Jan-Clare
Have you got staffing problems? We still have not seen last week's full playlist (18th) - the first hour is missing. This week's list is all in capitals and there are some spelling mistakes. This looks unprofessional, and not matching the standard of the broadcast itself, which is as usual splendid.

JOHN replies:Thanks for your comments. Yes, the first hour of the playlist for the 17th was missing - we have fixed it! I suppose the spelling mistake you talk of is ‘Ming’ instead of ‘Mind’? Changes the meaning just a little bit! Thanks for that; and that is now fixed too.
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tony
great show ,good choice of music tony(newport south wales)

Peter Astwick
Hello again JohnThank you for the every excellent standard of your progamme.However what has gone wrong with the play list for last Wed's programme?Best wishes.Peter (from Bolton)

Wes Houghton
Hello John and thanks for an excellent programme.I've only been listening for a few months and I can put up with you repeating "This is jazz with John Hellings from Radio Stoke etc" as mentioned by Fred Stone recently.The complainant should tune into the also excellent programme by Gary Copley on Radio Leeds (92.4FM and also on "Listen again") This is a very good three hour programme with some brilliant music completely ruined by Gary constantly plugging all the other programmes and presenters on the station.This thoroughly spoils an otherwise very good Monday evening.Regards and Thanks.Wes

John Maynard
Dear John, You made a casual remark last week that the Wally Fawkes/Sandy Brown version of Lazybones was in "glorious mono", in case any of us thought it should be in stereo. In fact, you may be interested to know that nothing that you, or Chris Gumbley before you, have played in the last 6 months or so has gone out in stereo over the internet. Prior to that, anything that was recorded in stereo was broadcast in stereo. After doing a random listening check of BBC local radio stations on the internet, both live and using the i player, I have been unable to find one music programme being broadcast in stereo. This is in contrast to BBC national radio where everything seems to be in stereo. It seems that local radio listeners are being short changed. Is this deiberate policy by the Beeb to cut costs, or has someone flicked a switch off by mistake? Perhaps a Techie knows the answer.Best Wishes, John.

Fred Stone
Dear John,Last night you played a track from an Al Sanada CD called Small Talk. You would not have known that it was an Al Sanada CD because you played it by Greg Field who was the drummer. Exactly the same tunes, personel, recording date and arrangements by Sammy Nestico. My CDhas lots of information about the Sanada family. Does anyone know why these recordings should have been issued under two names? Is Greg Field better known than Al Sanada?Fred.

Fred Stone
Dear John,This message is passed on for what it is worth and is nothing to do with me. I asked a friend, who always listened to Mel and Chris Gumbley, if he would be tuning in tonight. His reply was that he tried it for a few weeks but the constant repetition of "This is Jazz with John Hellings from Radio Stoke etc" bugged him so much that he says he will not listen again. 11 times in 1 hour 15 mins. was just too much and so you have been ditched. Sorry about that but he would not be persuaded otherwise. I will continue listening as usual.Fred Stone.

Fred Stone
Dear John,More trivia.Two weeks running you have done the family vocal thing. Last week you had Mrs Boyce also known as Lee Gibson and last night Martin Taylor's daughter in law (I believe) Alison Burns both enjoyed by me. The last time I saw Johnny Dankworth was a couple of years ago at the Norwich Jazz Party. He was on with Alex and promoting their new CD JD and AD. He spent so long (he wasn't quite with it) explaining what the title mean't that in the end they only had time for one tune. But he played beautifully. I saw the band many times in the 50s and the sections all had different coloured suits and again it was a superb band. Danny Moss tried, unsuccessfully, to teach me to play alto. Great days. Nice to know that the ZHS are still going. I keep in touch with Roy Hubbard who, as many will know, played clarinet with the band for many years. Good to hear that you manage to finish your programmes at the end of the tracks and not in the middle. This used to annoy me so thanks for being so professional.Fred.

Mike Vawdrey
John - re John Maynard's comments - I can see where you're coming from on this one, but if the track is a live recording and the talk bit comes in over the applause I don't think it's too much of a loss. How about those jazz documentaries on other BBC outlets where the presenter makes his/her point using the music as a background ? Surely a much more serious 'crime'. When push comes to shove I guess most time is lost for travel news, the insertion of which seems to be a fairly recent development. Above all tho' I think we should be delighted that the programme is I think now entering it's 22nd year so I'll raise a glass of Laphroaig to the next 22 !A small matter arising from the show of January 13 or thereabouts. When you played that excellent Benny Green solo outing you implied that not all solo piano is to your taste. I'll admit that several hours of Keith Jarrett's more extended solo offerings would challenge all but the most dedicated devotee, jazz/blues history is littered with pianists who required no further support - visible or otherwise. My personal choice would include (among many others)James P Johnson, Fats Waller(and the organ too !),Earl Hines,Teddy Wilson, Art Tatum,John Lewis,Ray Bryant,James Booker, Dave McKenna,Don Pullen, Ran Blake and Abdullah Ibrahim. I'm not even counting some of the more recent entrants on the piano scene. Would be great if a you could dig out a few solo flights by any or all of the above. That leads in turn onto the fascinating scenario of two or more pianists combining their talents whether at one or two instruments. In this setting how about Ellington/Strayhorn, Earl Hines/Jaki Byard,John Lewis/Hank Jones or even Cecil Taylor/Mary Lou Wulliams ? Not to forget Bill Evans duetting with himself(didn't Chris G once air one of those ?)Sure others can come up with further examples/suggestions - best wishes - Mike

frank proudlove
in the 1970's radio stoke broacast live jazz shows from the station, with local musicians. did anyone in oatcakeland record these at the time? i would love copies. if you could mention this on the show.

John Maynard
In your show of 13 January you took a pop at Dave Rimmer over his complaint (and mine) about you talking over the beginning and end of the music. Your very words were "A few facts might not go amiss, firstly I do not talk over the beginning of the music..". Is this a wind up or are you in denial? I have just been listening to this week's show on the iPlayer and surprise, surprise: you talked over 16 seconds at the beginning and 4 seconds at the end of Joe Henderson's Boto, and 4 seconds at the beginning of Oscar Peterson's Waltz for Debbie. In addition you didn't allow the last note to finish on some of other tracks before chipping in with your pearls of wisdom. It might only be for a second or less but please do us the courtesy of allowing us to listen in full.

Jan-Clare
Hi John - Nice to see the playlists back.The 16th December prog had one of Les Paul's rare playings (not that he didn't record much! but he doesn't seem to get played much, which is a shame). He is my guitarist partner's absolute hero, and there is not much of Les's stuff he hasn't come across, but this was one such. However, it seems that you did not have any information on the other musicians on the track (apart from Kay Starr!) - do you or does anyone else know who else was playing - especially the violinist? Thanks for any help you can offer.

Peter Astwick
I'm very sorry but I've followed HOST directions and STILL got nowhere.

HOST REPLIES:
Sorry about all this confusion. If you put john hellings jazz into your search engine, it will find John's new page. Then you will find a link to playlists
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Peter Astwick
Am I going mad?I am completely unable to access any link taking me to the playlists for any programme since 16/12/2009.I keep going round in circles and getting nowhere.Is it me or is there a fault? Help please as I really like to see what's playing whilst listening again on the iplayerOtherwise it remains a great programmeKeep up the good work John - Regards and best wishes.

HOST REPLIES:

As you may know, we had a torrid month or so as the website format changed - and the playlist got swallowed! However, I'm glad to report - it's now back. Check John's new page for a link.
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philip coggins
why have you stopped the playlists i listen on internet and find them most helpfulfuther to your message to Bill Cranfield im having the same trouble, just going round in circles looking for the playlists didnt know there was a new homepage ..where do i find that then

Mike Armitage, Bradford, Yorks
Love listening on iplayer- great shows! However playlists are 3 weeks in arrear. Any reason?

Dave Rimmer
I don't know if it's only me and John Maynard who find John Hellings' voice overs at the beginning and ending of quite a few of the tunes played each week very irritating,especially when he says "don't blame me" when there's been a studio fade on a particular track.I'd rather have a fade than a talk over which reduces the tune even further . Come on John this is not a Radio One pop programme,so lets have more numbers in their recorded entirety and a little less cackle.Do any other listeners have the same or opposite views?Dave Rimmer.

bill cranfield
How can I find the current playlist for the show I am listening to on the Internet (usually six or seven days after it's been broadcast)? If I click on "Playlists" it gives me an archive of previous programmes, but not the current one. I like to listen with the playlist to hand so that I know what I'm listening to if I happen not to catch JH's introductions.

HOST REPLIES:
We've just had a complete format change on the website, and we are trying to catch up... The playlist is there; it's now on John's 'new' page, though the 'old' pages can still be found. It's a little confusing, but we hope it will all be sorted within a week. Bear with us...

Mike Vawdrey
John - as a fully paid up member of the 'bah humbug'fraternity I have to say that I'm usually well proofed against seasonal ditties. However I'll admit that you did pull one or two chestnuts out of the fire ! Nina Simone's wonderful at any time for starters. My personal favourite version of The Christmas Song is the one Bud Powell recorded at the home of his mentor Francis Paudras in the early '60s. Bud sings - his chops were'nt in great shape at the time but it's deeply felt and very touching. Was on the 10 CD Mythic Sound set - now hard to find but some of this material was recycled on OJC I think. I know the MJQ's England's Carol and their seasonal Skating In Central Park but not their take on - which carol was it ? - Good King Wenceslaus ?? On safer ground with the Kenny Burrell Merry Christmas Baby. This instrumental version of Charles Brown's 1956 R'n'B hit was part of a Christmas album Kenny recorded for Cadet, the jazz division of Chess, in October, 1966. Kenny was joined by Charles Stepney (pno/org),Cleveland Eaton(bs) and Morris Jennings(dms). The unidentified brass(and strings on some tracks) were arranged and conducted by Richard Evans.You made a couple of references to that excellent and rather overlooked pianist Norman Simmons. Worth noting that apart from his extensive work with singers he did manage a few albums of his own, one of which - Ramira The Dancer - was recorded for the UK Spotlite label. Not sure if they've CDed this one yet. Others were on his own Milljac label. When you're next in seasonal vein how about Lionel Hampton's Jingle Bells from his '64 You Better Beleive It ! album(Impulse!)Great Ben Webster on this if I remember rightly. Also as The Nutcracker is often considered to be a Christmas offering anything from the Ellington/Strayhorn reinterpretation would count surely ...seasons' greetings - Mike

Roger Cairns, L.A.
Guess this is a bit tardy since I'm listening to this week's Christmas Shows whilst writing about last's. Anyway, great show(s) as ever - both 23rd and 18th.Loved that Kay Starr/Les Paul track, 'What Goes Up...etc'. In fact I've just downloaded it from itunes. I think it might be a future one for my repertoire. Thanks for that!!Also - and I could be wrong about this, but isn't Heinrich Meurkens German? I think you said he was Dutch, but I think you might have been confusing him with Toots Teilman, who's from Belgium and also a wonderful harmonica player.If I'm wrong I apologize in advance. Anyway, nice to "touch base" as they say here. Dunno why!Season's greeting!

Jan-Clare
What a shame about last week's programme - could you include the later tracks in future progs - the tracklist is always an appetite-whetter, but at the moment they look as though they have gone for good. Big disappointment! Love the show - one of my absolute must-listens every week. Thanks so much.

Wally Lance
Hi John great to hear you again even if its via the I-player. We've missed you in the wilds of Gloucestershire.Best wishes to you and the programme

John Maynard
Thanks, but now there's only two days to go and it still ain't sorted!

HOST replies:Profound apologies... The techies scratched their heads more than once over this. But (admittedly with only 48 hours left) it was fixed. Once again, sorry. And, once again, many thanks for the tip.
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John Maynard
For three days now I, and presumably thousands of others, have been trying to listen to this week's programme on the i player, but 36 minutes 53 seconds into the recording all we get is a repeat message that the programme is unavailabe due to either "contractual reasons" or a "temporary technical fault". As it can't be the former it must be the latter, but 3 days is hardly temporary. This is the only programme that seems to be affected, so I suspect that no one at your end is even aware that this is happening. I can't be the first person to bring this to your attention, and as it's now the week-end I doubt if there is even anyone there to read this message. Will someone please get it sorted ASAP.

HOST replies:Thanks for your comments. You are quite right - we are rarely aware if there is this sort of breakdown, and we are humbly grateful that you take the time to let us know. Please keep these observations coming. Now, I need to go and find a techie to fix it...
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Laurie Barry
Thursday morning here in Beijing spoilt- after 37 minutes your December 2 show becomes "unavailable" The i-player seems to have a down on your programme. Great show by the way(when I can get it)Regards Laurie

Peter Astwick
Hi John,I was just about to tell you about "The Jazz Baroness" when I spotted Robert Gayton's message.Yes it was shown on BBC4 on 18th April.Well worth watching.Why not suggest to the Beeb that they repeat it (which BBC3/4 normally do)Thanks for a great programmeRegards Peter (from Bolton area)

Mike Vawdrey
John - re Big Joe Turner - he had a string of R'n'B hits throughout the '50s starting with Chains Of Love in 1951.These soon crossed over into the the emergent rock'n'roll - Shake Rattle And Roll for instance spawned covers by Bill Haley and Elvis Presely before lending it's name to a 1956 film in which Big Joe also appeared. I guess Atlantic gave him the freedom to record Boss Of The Blues and Big Joe Rides Again because he'd already earned them more than enough money with his hits...Big Joe merits an entry in a book called American Rock'n'Roll - The UK Tours 1956 - 72 as indeed does Lionel Hampton ! I seem to recall reading somewhere that Hamp's on stage antics on one of his late '50s visits to these shores- including kicking over his drum kit - led to fears that he might be stimulating anti-social behaviour. Certainly a man ahead of his time. There was also an R4 documentary on 'the jazz Baroness' a couple of years ago. The exact nature of Baroness Nica de Koenigswarter's relationship with Monk may never be known but she was certainly a very good friend and benefactor. Much more about this in Leslie Gourse's Straight No Chaser - The Life And Genius Of Thelonious Monk(Books with Attitude,1997) - best wishes - Mike

Robert Gayton
Hi JohnThe film The Jazz Baroness was shown on BBC4 a couple of months ago. I found it fascinating and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Monk.

Fiona Shield
Hi there! Sunday Lunch time JazzThere's a real shortage of Sunday lunch timne jazz in the area BUT come to Shoulder of Mutton, Fulford on 13 December lunch time! Chris Gumbley is playing and if its a success perhaps we can promote the villafge pub as a jazz venue!!For info ring 07818 005 901

mike wilson
big joe turner a rock&roller? you're having a laugh. have you heard the boss of the blues album? yours in fun mike.

bill cranfield
Enjoy the show, but couldn't you confine all the live-gig news in one spot, thus allowing those listeners who don't live in the area to pop out for a pee or to make a cuppa, as your predecessors used to do, rather than interspersing it between almost every track?

John Maynard
Hello John, Last week you credited Bennie Moten, pianist, band leader and co-composer with brother Ira, of Moten Swing and who died in 1935 (the leadership of his band of course, being taken over by Basie) as having risen from the grave to change instruments and play bass with the Buster Bailey Quartet 24 years later, when the bass player in question was actually Benny Moten (no relation). Easy mistake to make, and perhaps the date of the recording was the reason for the element of doubt or surprise in your voice. Yor predecessor, Chris, was sometimes prone to "deliberate mistakes", perhaps you could make it a regular feature. Glad that your taste in jazz music is every bit as good as his and Mel's. In fact you have the uncanny knack of chosing a high proportion of tracks that I've not heard before. Please keep this up, if it falls below 50% I'll let you know. One small gripe though. Could we please have a little less chat and a little more music? In a show lasting nearly two hours there is never more than about 85 minutes of music and this is often spoilt for me by you sometimes talking over the beginning and the end of tracks. Best Wishes. John Maynard.

Dave Boxold
Hi JohnCan you give a plug please for the Martinique Jazz Band who play regular gigs at the Royal Oak in High Street Stonnall (near Brownhills. The sessions are every other Monday at 8:30. The next session is November 16th the 30th and so onBest RegardsDave Boxold

Mike Vawdrey
John - following Malcolm's revelation that he was present when Wild Bill Davison was recorded at the old MSG, you were asking if any other listeners could report similar soundings. I also attended quite a few of those MSG dates. One such was Bill Coleman, A Smooth One(Jasmine). I bought this double knowing that I'd seen the great trumpeter a couple of times there but I was several tracks in before it dawned on me that I was actually present. Solid stuff but it also confirmed my impression back then in May '67 that I preferred the Bruce Turner Jump Band who'd supported Mr Coleman the previous year to the MIlliner-Littlejohn Sextet the second time around. A few months later my father and I were at the MSG when the Ruby Braff/Alex Welsh date was taped(now on Lake ?) A memorable evening indeed - we went on straight from the Top Brass package at the Free Trade Hall. That featured Clark Terry/Bob Brookmeyer, Doc Cheatham/Benny Morton - both in quintet format - and climaxed with one of the first editions of Maynard Ferguson's UK Big Band. Clark surfaced afterwards at the MSG but declined to join in with Braff/Welsh on the grounds that he didn't fancy using a borrowed instrument. Ruby Braff was complaining that he hadn't had a record date in years(how things were soon to change !)but didn't appreciate my pointing out that he'd been on a live Newport All Stars date 4 years earlier. 'I didn't even know that was being recorded' came the sharp retort. More ironic than we realised..Maynard Ferguson's BB was also a surprise act at the 1970 Bath Festival of Blues and Progressive Music as it was styled. Along with thousands of others I wallowed in the mud(well almost!) for a couple of days. Some great music, chaotic organisation. I think this must have been when the MF BB were going through their trendy phase a la Don Ellis- a doubtless faulty memory tells me they were quite exotically costumed and made use of rocky beats and the odd electronic gizmo. Some of the music at the Festival was recorded and a chunk of it has now been issued but have yet to discover if any of the 'MF Horn' segment was preserved on tape. Think they went down quite well with an audience whose nearest approach to this style of music would have been Blood Sweat And Tears and CTA/Chicago. Can anyone confirm my somewhat vague impression ? - best wishes - Mike

Mike Vawdrey
John - RE the Chu(Chew?) Berry track you played I think you forgot to mention the presence of Roy 'Little Jazz' Eldridge on trumpet.I agree entirely - Chu would undoubtedly have gone on to even greater things but for that road accident. Even so he influenced later players such as Lucky Thompson. Appreciated the Coltrane/Hartman Lush Life, not to mention the the Kurt Elling spiel which preceded it. Bob Thiele, Coltrane's producer at Impulse!was quite astute in persuading the great man to do some more 'mainstream' albums in between the impassioned, extended offerings on the Village Vanguard sessions and the quite complex Africa/Brass. I guess Ballads and the surprisingly successful pairing with Duke Ellington belong to the same group. A few years earlier Orrin Keepnews had used a similar procedure whne he signed Monk up to his Riverside label. Monk's first two Riverside albums were dedicated to his interpretations of Ellington tunes and standards. Mind you Monk's third Riverside offering Brilliant Corners may consequently have come as an even bigger shock to some at the time ! - best wishes - Mike

Malcolm McDonald
JohnThanks for playing a wide range of music. I now try to tune to the prog each week, which I was not doing before you took over. You have just played Alex Welsh with Wild Bill at the MSG in 1966. I was there, and we still try and listen to the music live once a week!RegardsMalcolm

Bernard Tidman
Thank you John for finding my friends Joe Mudale Bass & Mike Cotton Trumpet & playingsomething by Joe Mudale.

Bernard Tidman
Wonderfulevening of jazz.Please can you locate someofmyfriends - JoeMudale, BassfreelanceinWestEnd, 1954 ; MikeCotton, Trumpetplayedjazz clubs[Woolwich]1950. If you find them kindly play some their music

Bernard Tidman
Thanks for another great sow tonight. More requests: Vic Dickinson1953, Septet Jeepers Creepers SugarVicD with Louis ARMSTRONG

Jan-Clare
John, you are obviously also very experienced and knowledgeable, and have presented a superb show - I shall definitely be tuning in again, hopefully not so late in the week next time, to give me a chance to listen more than once!Keep up the great work - you have set yourself a high standard to maintain. Very best wishes for the future.

Sandy Nicolson
JohnWelcome back. I used to listen to your show on Wiltshire till it was discontinued. I am one of those people who listens to every jazz show I can on the internet. I shall miss Chris, who has done a very good job for the past couple of years, but it's very nice to have a familiar voice back on the air. Keep up the good work.

Fred Stone
Dear JohnYou will have seen that I send trivia to the message board and so here is some from last week. Terry Gibbs Dreamband - I failed to take home any of the four CDs that were available when I had the shop - what and idiot. But Beautiful - a wonderful song - do you have Carmen McRae's version please? Keepin out of mischief - had it on 45 in the 50s - still love it. Molly Johnson I like except for a horrific version of Lets do it where everytime instead of it we get ee - can you imagine Birds do ee, bees do ee etc.I saw Ian Date at Brede a few times (Vernon's tours) where he played with a pianist called Dave Paquette the gig being callled "A Date with Paquette"Fred.

Robert Gayton
Hi JohnIt's great to hear you again. Enjoyed the show and look forward to next week.

Mike Vawdrey
John - enjoyed your first outing, looking forward to the next. Total agreement with Peter - couldn't have put it better. It would be good if the messageboard could evolve into something a little more interactive as time goes by. Would there be a place for some of those artist profiles you used to do ? - maybe not every week but say a monthly feature ?? - best wishes- Mike

bernard tidman
Hi John.Just heard your most enjoyable jazz programme. Don't ever stop.Please play Sideways,Alan Barnes John Hallam They say its Wonderful Idol Gossip next week Woodville Records WVCD119 Thankyou. Bernard

Peter Astwick
Hello again John and welcome back to the Jazz airwaves.It just shows that you can't keep a good man (and his show) down.You've got very big boots to fill after Mel and Chris but I'm sure that you'll do well.I'm still missing the Saturday night shows.Best wishesPeter

Fred Stone
Dear John,Welcome - it is good to know that you will be carrying on the good work once Chris finishes. As you know, from the years that we have known each other, I will have something to say on many occasions.Fred

Geoff Inwood
Welcome to the jazz show. You have some hard acts to follow. (Mel & Chris ) I am sure you will set a good standard as with your last show. I will place details on my web and if you wish to update any Jazz info please let me know . It's all free www.jazzwestmidlands.co.uk Best wishes Geoff Inwood