NEW RELEASES For Spring 2006 I am delighted to offer you five excellent new CDs, all by bands new to P.E.K. Sound.
PKCD-284 - “LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!”
In some respects this is one of the most significant releases ever on P.E.K. Sound, and I sincerely hope that many, many of you will buy it.
It was recorded in Lincoln last December at a fund raising concert to help the hundreds of stricken musicians in New Orleans, following the dreadful devastation of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005.
Every one of you who buys this CD will be making a direct contribution to aid New Orleans musicians. I will cover my costs, but that is all; I will send all proceeds from every CD sold to the Normal Appeal who organised the concert. They in turn will forward all the money raised, with no deductions at all, to the New Orleans Musicians Clinic and The Jazz Foundation of America.
So please, please buy this CD - if only half the readers of this newsletter buy a copy I will be able to send nearly £3000 to the Normal Appeal.
PKCD-285 The Charleston Chasers - “The Clouds Will Soon Roll By”
I first saw this marvellous band at The Hawarden Club at the 1991 Bude Jazz Festival. Harry Gold was a guest with the band - he was then about 85 years old. Like most bands they have undergone personnel changes since then but they remain true to their original aims - to capture the excitement and magic of the hot dance band music of the 1920s & ‘30s. This new CD, recorded at Bude 2005 does just that.
PKCD-286 Mike Lovell, Keith Nichols and Special Friends - “Dixieland at the Thornton Little Theatre”
Last October Mike Lovell gathered together a band of top jazz musicians for a concert at Thornton Little Theatre near Blackpool. Things started badly for me when I was held up for ages in heavy traffic on the M6; I got to the point of actually picking up my phone to call Mike and let him know I thought I would not make it in time, when the traffic cleared and I arrived in time - just. Nick Ward was also held up and arrived with not much time to spare. I hate having to rush; it’s so very unsettling. The concert went well and the end result is a very enjoyable CD of Dixieland standards, well played, with an appreciative audience.
PKCD-287 Yellow Dog - “Painting The Clouds”
I think this is one of the very best CDs of New Orleans-style jazz I have heard in ages. Derek Winters and Brian Carrick have played together for many years and have a great rapport. I think the absence of a trombone in the band gives them a degree of freedom and more opportunity to feed off each other. The rhythm section of Stu Morrison, John Boyett and Cees Hoogkamer is superb, and I love their choice of tunes - some good old N.O. standards plus a couple of delightful tunes which I had never heard before.
PKCD-288 The Antique Six Jazzband - “Renovated”
It’s almost five years since I recorded the Antique Six. Since then the personnel has changed almost completely, and in this respect it qualifies as a “new band”. Over the years the band has developed and progressed to become one of the country’s top traditional jazz bands. Of course the fairly recent death of Dick Chapman dealt the band a severe blow but in Chris Pearce they have found a most able replacement. Andy Robins joined the band on double bass when Jackie Chapman left to care for Dick.
This recording was made over two days at the delightful country mansion home of a good friend of the band. Very enjoyable!
CREDIT CARD ORDERS For several years the credit card banks have been increasing their security measures to combat card fraud. With the advent of “chip and pin”, card fraudsters have targeted their efforts on what is called “customer not present” sales, i.e. telephone and mail-order sales, where the retailer never has sight of the card - my type of sales.
Some time ago, to improve security, the banks started requesting the cardholder’s address details and also the 3-digit security code on the back of the card, for each transaction. Until now it has been possible for me to over-ride the request and process the order without providing that information. Very soon the banks will make it impossible to process an order unless the retailer has the cardholder’s full address and the security code.
What this means is that if you don’t fill in all the details requested on the order form your order will be delayed; and if you do not supply your phone number either it will be seriously delayed.
So please, make life easier for all of us and fill in order forms clearly and fully.
POSTAGE COSTS
In April postage costs are set to go up again and in August there will be some major changes to the way postage is charged. In particular, packets will be charged by size as well as weight. No - I’m not joking! I can’t avoid the mental picture of sorting office staff measuring each packet to see if is a ‘letter’, a ‘large letter’ or ‘a packet’! The mind boggles.
I am not yet sure of the full implications of these changes but it is very likely to result in a large increase in the cost of sending out packets of CDs. I have kept my prices constant over several years, despite large rises in postage costs, and I hope I can avoid a price rise when the new system of charging starts in August.
There’s one good side effect of the forthcoming change; namely the basic second class stamp will cover a letter up to 100gm in weight. This means I will be able to increase the size of the catalogue and have it printed with a decent weight paper for the cover.
THE RULE OF THREE
It is often said things happen in threes. If you’re waiting for a bus three come along at once; but not in Congerstone where there’s only about one a day. Some believe that disasters happen in threes. This is probably so when only one or two disasters strike they feel a sense of relief that the third hasn’t happened.
Anyway I’ve noticed over the years that when I release a batch of new CDs quite often one particular tune appears on several of them. In the current batch of new CDs there are three versions of “I’m Crazy ‘bout My Baby”; Charleston Chasers, Mike Lovell and The Antique Six. It’s quite interesting to compare the three versions - they are so very different.
LOOKING AHEAD
I can say with a fair degree of confidence that the next batch of new releases in June will include the following:- Dennis Armstrong’s Oliver Band, The OKeh All Stars, Keith Nichols’ Collegians, Colin Kingwell’s Jazz Bandits and The Delta Jazz band with Colin Bowden. These five are all awaiting final mixing and mastering and should all be completed before Keswick. There might also be another one or two for release before the June Newsletter, including the new CD from The John Maddocks Jazzmen, recorded at Bude last year.
The Keswick Festival will be with us again quite soon. This year my cousin Elizabeth from Plymouth is planning to join me for the whole festival. It will be good to have company. I felt very alone last year - strange to feel alone when the town was full of good friends, but I think you’ll understand what I mean.
I’ve no definite recording plans yet but from the list of bands booked to appear it promises to be another hugely successful festival.
Before I go to Keswick I will be taking the ferry to the Isle of Wight to record the Unity Stompers and the Island’s big band, both run by Andy Norman. Just before the IOW trip I am booked to record the Lains Barn Allstars (basically Dave Moorwood’s Rascals of Rhythm augmented to become a full seven piece band - see PKCD-194, but with different guests). In April I will be recording Susan Valiant Spear with Dave Moorwood’s Rascals of Rhythm.
Then later in April, and after an interval of almost eight years, a second recording of the Forest New Orleans Jazz Band is scheduled.
Looking further ahead recordings are planned by the Excel Jazzmen, the Martin Bennett Quartet and Rod Chambers’ Louisiana Joymakers.
This is why I am now having to say to bands that I am not looking for any new bookings until late summer.
It looks like my plans to cut back are not succeeding very well!
