Your Chance To Perform – A Chance To Help Jazz Musicians And Promoters

On the 10th of September I attended a performance of City Lights at the Cadogan Hall sponsored by Citi and organised by Edicis. The event was to celebrate 125 years of British film. City Lights is Charlie Chaplin’s silent masterpiece that was produced after the introduction of the Jazz Singer in the Autumn of 1927…

Brian ‘Joe’ Spibey Residents of Widcombe have told the Chronicle with great sadness that Widcombe resident Brian “Joe” Spibey, known as Jazz Joe passed away shortly before Christmas aged 79. His death comes only eighteen months after the passing of his collaborator, singer James Lambeth who died in May 2020. “Joe was a Widcombe fixture,”…

Trumpeter Chris Hodgkins is launching three albums at the Pizza Express, Dean Street, London, W1D 3RW  on Thursday 12th May at 8 pm – doors open at 6:30 pm. Tickets are available at: https://www.pizzaexpresslive.com/whats-on/chris-hodgkins The “Salute To Humphrey Lyttelton” album was recorded after last November’s 17 date UK tour, the Chris Hodgkins International Quartet album “Festooned with Trumpets”,…

Chris Hodgkins Newsletter – Current + New Projects 2024 SUMMONED BY BELLS – A new project for 2024 This project is based around Sir John Betjeman’s poem “Summoned By Bells” and involves a tour of churches with bell towers. The core of the programme revolves around a number of newly composed themes played by church…

In 1993 the Arts Council announced they were conducting a review of jazz. Jazz In , the precursor to Jazz UK published an editorial on the review. Reading the editorial will engender a profound sense of deja vu. Please see Arts Council Review of Jazz 1993

There was an article in the Guardian on the 18th June 2020, “Act to save industry, leading lights of stage urge government” https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2020/jun/17/cultural-catastrophe-uk-theatre-faces-ruin-amid-coronavirus-crisis . Dowden was quoted as saying  “he does not want to let anyone down”. Well his insouciance to date has let a whole raft of jazz musicians and volunteer jazz promoters down and…