Jazz West Midlands     A site for Jazz Fans in and around the West Midlands
The John Williams Festival   Click on Buttons to view                                       Click on a town for information This site is on Explorer 7	Ironbridge   The Worlds First Iron Bridge which spans the River Severn at Ironbridge in the County of Shropshire.

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Calling all trumpet players within the Coventry area We are Midlands based 6-piece jazz/blues outfit THE BIG EASY We need a permanent experienced trumpet player Though must be Midlands based dedicated and committed We got festivals, gigs, recording own CD etc etc Tel Dave 02476 501520 THE BIG EASY are a 6-piece jazz/blues band. Comprising; The Preacher - lead vocals, sax, harp .. Martin Barter - keyboards, vocals .. Rod Boatswain - tenor sax, b'king vox .. Matt Yardley - trumpet .. Steve Hunt - guitars .. Steve Sage - bass, percussion .. Ed Franklin - drums, percussion.

Menorca The Jewel in the Med Summers here again and time to book a holiday. Click on my Menorca button for more details. Jazz Fans and Jazzmen there is a great jazz club which meets once each week in the season The Casino San Clemente

The Bryan Jones Big Band	Sam Rogers Charlie Wright
The Southern Sounds Jazzmen	Stan Williams	The Umbrella Parade
The Severnside Jazz Band	Guest. John Everett	Guest. Dave Sherwood
The Hale St Stompers		Guests Three in A Bar	The Great Alan Barnes with Dave Newton in Shrewsbury

The Heart of England Jazz Band. are going to Gran Canaria again and invite you to join them. 1st-15th December 2008 at Bar Marina Puerto de Mogan, Gran Canaria Phone Dave Smith on 01384 298132 if you would be interested in joining them there They do like to be beside the seaside !!! http://www.hofejazz.co.uk

Roger Marks

Roger Mark's Armada Jazz Band Plymouth Devon If you go to Devon and need some good jazz then do try this fine trad band who play at The Odd Wheel Wembury nr Plymouth most Thursday nights. 01752 862287 We have just had a very good evening with them at The Foxhound Brixton nr Plymouth

John Shillito

I have been a Jazz fan nearly all my life from the early days of Geoffrey Everitt and Radio Luxemburg and the wonderful A.F.N. ( American Forces Network) in Germany. I even built a one valve radio so I could listen to this station late at night. At this time the disc jockey was Moff Moffat and his programme was Midnight in Munich. He played the greatest jazz of that time on V Disc. Woody Herman. Stan Kenton. Benny Goodman and of course Louis Armstrong. If there is anybody who remembers these times and programmes I would be interested to hear from them.
I recall going to a meeting in Sutton Coldfield some years ago and we had a lecture from a collector of V Discs.
If you know of this gentleman I would be pleased to hear from you
In those days we only had 78rpm records 10 or 12inch. My dad had a spring wound record player with needles that you had to change after a couple of plays. In time I bought an arm with a stylus which played through the radio. (wonderful).
It was a Guy called John Tims who started my interest in Jazz, he is a drummer and lives in Ellesmere and became a good friend. He had his own room with his kit in and a radiogram to play his records on! He invited us there on a Sunday afternoon's and we played his and our records. What a great time it was.
John was the drummer with The George Riley Band a local dance band located in Oswestry and resident at The Victoria Rooms but quite often they came to play at the Garrision Theatre. Park Hall Training Camp.

My earnings at that time were about £2-00 per week and after giving my mother twenty five shillings for my keep this left me with fifteen shillings of spending money! Records as I recall were around two shillings & sixpence so much care was needed before buying. As time progressesd LPs came onto the market and 3minutes of playng time became a thing of the past, of course it was not quite that simple as I had to aquire a record player to play at 33 RPM.

Most of the Jazz I went to live was with the Big Bands Ted Heath,Geraldo, Joe Loss and if very lucky Vic Lewis.
One great treat was the Dance Band Championships held at The Winter Gardens in Blackpool and if I remember correctly a band called Ken Mackintosh won in that year and went from strength to strength. The resident band for the show was Geraldo.
Over the years I have been fortunate to see and listen to many fine bands. Woody Herman. Buddy Rich and of course the great Ted Heath Band never to be forgotton. Then along came George Shearing, The MJQ, Stan Kenton etc
But the great change came with Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Miles Davies and of course our own Johnny Dankworth Seven who were leading lights in this change of style. It is good to see that for all these changes that the Trad /New Orleans jazz is still played throughout this country, and bands like Chris Barber, Kenny Ball, Acker Bilk and Phil Mason must take much credit for this.
As any Jazz fan knows the local musicians who form the many bands throughout the country and play for peanuts must also be given great credit for keeping this music alive. But dont forget it is our support that can keep them playing.

Geoff Inwood