1. Duke Ellington. My parents had very few albums in their collection. In truth, they weren't big music lovers. I paid no attention to their tastes at all. When Dad died, I inherited his collection. In amongst the Rugger Ditties, Stereo Effects and Lourdes hymns albums, there was a Duke Ellington album. I vaguely recall Dad telling me he'd seen Duke Ellington in New York, I assume when he was in transit to the UK from Australia to fly for bomber command. I bitterly regret not being more inquisitive. The album was a live album. I'd not heard it before, but as I was feeling nostalgic and wanted a connection with Dad, I gave it a spin and it was absolutely brilliant. Sadly, a light fingered flatmate, who fancied himself as a jazzer nicked it in 1989. I've bought a few since.
2. Louis Armstrong. He was probably the one artist I recall my Dad raving about. If he was on TV when we were small, he'd always watch. My father only liked positive, uplifting music and stated many times that "What a wonderful world" was his favourite song. He'd sing it in the bath. As my tastes mellowed from hardcore punk, reggae and ska, I realised what a genius Louis Armstrong was. I think All the time in the world is an absolute classic.
3. Ben Sidran. I first became aware of Ben Sidran as a sideman in the Steve Miller Band. A brilliant pianist. As with many artists, I'd saw an album in a rack in the second hand stall. Assuming it would be Milleresque West Coast rock, which I have a soft spot for, I bought it. I got it back and was a bit surprised to find it was existential jazz with big dollop of humour. being quirky and funny, I rather liked it. I've seen Ben a few times, most recently at Ronnie Scotts. It is always a great night. Last time was during the reign of King Donald of Trump. Ben said that he was on a mission to remind the world that not everything in the USA was tasteless and he hoped he'd convince us.
4. Dr John. My sister Caroline won a copy of Night Tripper for being a panellist on Jukebox Jury (where famously she voted Tiger Feet by Mud a miss). I'd never heard anything like it before. If I'm being honest, I hated it at first, as it wasn't Rock and Roll as I knew and loved it. In the early 1980's I was looking for musical inspiration and played Gris Gris. It was a revelation. Dr John was playing at Dingwalls. I suggested to my sister we check him out. As she loved Dr John, she was more than happy. A few mates tagged along. One said to me after, that he thought I was only going to be pretentious, but he'd had one of the best musical nights of his life. After that, I tried to see him every time he played in London. We even did a cover of Mama Roux with the False Dots for a while.
5. Ian Shaw. I've seen Ian everywhere from the Chandos Arms in Colindale to Ronnie Scotts. Like me, he has a love of Joni Mitchell and David Bowie. A wonderful Pianist and songwriter and a tireless worker for refugees, a marvellous human being.
6. Zoe Rahman. Zoe lives in Mill Hill and is a friend. She's also a damn fine pianist. She's playing at Frith Manor School tomorrow evening for the London Jazz Festival, I'd suggest you check it out.
7. Joe Stilgoe. We went to see Joe last night at Pizza Express. He's the son of TV Pianist Richard Stilgoe, who Joe reminded us was still alive. He's funny, a great improviser and had a wonderful band last night. He's always good value.
8. Stacey Kent. Over the years, we've had all manner of wonderful artists at the Mill Hill Music Festival, including John Dankworth, Acker Bilk, Gwyneth Herbert to name a few. Of all, my favourite was Stacey Kent. Not only is she a wonderful singer, but she's also lovely to work with.
9. Scott Hamilton. In 2019, I lost a great friend, Brian Peerless. Brian organised the Jazz element of the Mill Hill Music festival and was also the manager of legendary sax player Scott Hamilton. On many occasions Brian got us complimentary tickets for Scott's shows. The last time I saw Scott was at the 2018 London Jazz festival, sharing a glass with Brian and a good chat with Scott. If you like Jazz Sax, then you really should check out Scott.
10. Stewart Curtis. Stewart is another great friend of mine. I saw him last week at the Mill Hill Jazz club. He works with all sorts of great musicians, a couple of weeks before, I'd seen him at Pizza Express with Zeeteah Massiah, I'd not even known he was playing, so it was a rare treat. His own band K-Groove is a mash up of Jazz, Latin rhythms and Klezmer. Well worth a trip out if you see him playing.
If you are curious, here's a little playlist (including all of the artists mentioned). If you like what you hear, do check these artists out further.
No comments:
Post a Comment