We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

BOURNEMOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA NEWSLETTER No 6 – March 2015

Contact us at bjazzorch@yahoo.co.uk

Dear Friends,

We hope you enjoy reading the BJO newsletter. We now have 80 ‘BJO Friends’ - wouldn’t it be great if we could hit 100 by the end of this season? Please help us spread the word – the more, the merrier!

Remember you can now add a comment, make requests and ‘like’ the Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra on Facebook and we hope to have a website soon too (thanks to Sally Taylor).

You may like this too ….

Sunday 12th April 7.30pm

Barrington Theatre,

Ferndown.

Tony, David and Mike Potts will be on this

one!

We look forward to seeing you at the last 3 ‘Unplugged’ gigs of the season:

Monday 16th March 7.30pm – Oak Academy, Duck Lane, Bournemouth BH11 9JJ

Monday 18th May 7.30pm - Venue tbc for Centre for Wessex Young Musicians

Monday 15th June 7.30pm - Victoria Education Centre, Lindsay Road, BH13 6AS

All at 7.30pm

Remember: It’s free to get in ……but not to get out!

We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

Review by Tony Waller

Wimborne Rotary – Allendale Centre – February 16th

A packed house of 300 attended this concert given by the Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra to

raise money for Wimborne Rotary. It is so nice to see the support given to this fine venue,

following the 250 in the audience at last year’s concert. One hundred tickets were issued to

the ‘Friends of the BJO’ highlighting the support the band is getting – a big thank you to the

‘Friends’!

The band kicked off the concert with a Stan Kenton number called the ‘Big Chase’, and this

was followed by Duke Ellington’s ‘C Jam Blues’ featuring each member of the saxophone

section – Paul Stiles, Gerald Bailey, Kyle Shenton and Alan Melly. The first half again

featured our breakaway group, the Moldy Fig Jazzband playing Alexander’s Ragtime Band.

Other numbers in the first half included Pat Metheny’s ‘It’s Just Talk’ and Stan Kenton’s ‘My

One and Only Love’ beautifully played by trombonist Rob Tooley.

After a well needed break, with the band taking a well deserved trip to the bar (courtesy of

the Rotary Club – thank you all!), the second half began with ‘Soaring’ by Bob Florence.

This was followed by two requests, ‘Caravan’, and Bunny Berigan’s ‘I Can’t Get Started’.

With myself as soloist, I wish I had put this in the first half – a bit painful on the chops!

‘Begin the Beguine’ featured the artistry of Paul Stiles on clarinet. As a proud father, I was

delighted with David’s open drum solo in Sammy Nestico’s ‘You Gotta Try , But Harder’, as

were the audience.

The band ended the concert with Buddy Rich’s ‘Big Swing Face’, and seeing it was

Valentine’s week, ‘Moonlight Serenade’ was the encore. Very rewarding to see the

standing ovation!

A big thank you to our friends Darryl and Roy and their committee for organising

everything, along with the staff at the Allendale.

The amount you helped to raise at the Allendale concert for Wimborne Rotary

and the Victoria Hospital was an amazing

£1,352

Thank you all for your generous donations.

We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

What you said….

If you would like to share your comments or reviews, please email bjazzorch@yahoo.co.uk

’WHAT A GREAT GIG LAST NIGHT, I AM SURE THAT EVERY TIME I HEAR YOU

YOU SOUND EVEN BETTER’’ B.S

‘’I enjoyed last night's concert at Allendale Centre very much indeed.

Brilliant, exciting playing by a great sounding band.

I'll definitely be going to the next one at Oak Academy’’ V.G

Hi Tony, What a great evening you and your band provided. It took me back to

the time when popular music really was music! G.H.

BOURNEMOUTH JAZZ ORCHESTRA

Directed by Tony Waller 2015 Line up

Trumpets Trombones Saxophones Mike Potts Chris Ricketts Paul Stiles - 1st Alto Martin Chapman Rob Tooley Gerald Bailey - 2nd Alto Peter Turnbull Bobi Francis Alan Melly - 1st Tenor Peter Curtis Colin Francis Kyle Shenton - 2nd Tenor Dugald Clarke - Baritone

Piano: Phil Doyle Bass: Richard Pearce Drums: David Waller

Guest musicians:

Dennis Curlett & Elaine Close (trumpets) Steve Hayes, Colin Williams & Julian Whitehead (trombones)

Ian Ellis (saxophone), Tom Bruton and Rebecca Bruton (saxophones)

We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

Peter was born in Darlington and at the age of 11 entered the world of brass playing in the traditional way by joining his local band, the Cockerton Prize Silver Band. As a student, he was lucky enough to study with Maurice Murphy, Alan Stringer and Philip Jones, at the Royal Northern College of Music where he also played light music and jazz. Peter held positions with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, at

Opera North and the Halle orchestra before starting a 20 year period as principal trumpet with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. He has also appeared as guest principal with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, the National Orchestra of Wales and the Hague Philharmonic in Holland. He has made a recording of the Richard Rodney Bennett Trumpet Concerto with the Royal Marines Band and been

soloist on several recordings with various ensembles including the BSO. Always enthusiastic about brass chamber music, Peter has played in groups wherever he has worked around the country, making several radio and T.V recordings. He currently plays with Bournemouth Symphonic Brass and also appears with Kokoro, the contemporary music ensemble of the BSO.

Peter enjoys passing on whatever knowledge he has to youngsters of all ages. He has taught at the Royal Northern College of Music and at Huddersfield Technical College. He has coached at the Royal Marines College of Music, and for the Dorset, Hampshire and the Wessex Youth Orchestras. He is currently the conductor of the Wessex Junior & Youth Fanfares at the Centre for Wessex Young Musicians. Peter is also developing his interest in music education and coaching and aims to form links between players of all genres and abilities, and to generally encourage brass playing in our region.

We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

Tony takes a stroll down Memory Lane to……..

Lakeside Country Club 1980-1983

On a recent interview for HOPE FM, I was asked by the presenter (and Friend of the BJO), Derek

Diprose about my time at Lakeside Country Club. It actually made me think about the memories

about a gig from what seems a long-lost era, that of ‘Clubland’.

In August 1980, I was called to see whether I would be interested in the lead trumpet job at what

was for many years the top club in Britain called ‘Lakeside Country Club’, near Camberley. For a

few years, the Daily Mirror Awards voted it as number 1, ahead of other such clubs as Blazer’s in

Windsor, Bernard Manning’s Embassy Club, Circus Tavern in Purfleet, Jollie’s in Stoke and many

others. Prince Charles and Princess Margaret both visited Lakeside on Royal occasions, and top

artistes from all over the world would star at the club.

Every Sunday, the 9 piece house band would have a 1pm-6pm band call for the artist of the week

(as well as the support artist), then 7 nights per week we would back the cabaret, as well as play

for dancing, so by 1am, the ‘chops’ were well sore. It wasn’t until after a year of being at Lakeside

that we went down to 6 nights per week – what a welcome night off that was!

I thought about the times I had worked and occasionally, socialised with the stars. As I lived in for

the first few months, many of the stars would stay at the Lakeside hotel and one such special

memory was having coffee with the legendary Tommy Cooper. We were both sat at the bar with

Tommy airing his views on the political climate! Tony Bennett (along with his ‘henchmen’) walked

into the bandroom and wished us all well. The corridor to the artist bar was a narrow one (I spent

many a happy break in there playing on the ‘Space Invaders’ machine) and brushed shoulders with

the likes of Norman Wisdom, Kris Kristofferson, Roy Orbison, Jack Jones etc – big names then and

legends now!

The owner of Lakeside is a chap called Bob Potter. A millionaire then, he is still there living in his

mansion next door, and often seen at the World Darts, which for years has been held at Lakeside.

One story I must tell you is the day when my fiancé – and now my better half - Laura and I were

trying to apply for our first mortgage. We went to the bank in Camberley, and had an

appointment with the manager. He smirked when I informed him I was a self-employed musician,

and Laura, a student nurse. He asked how and where do I make my money? I said ‘’Lakeside’’.

‘’Oh! You work for Bob Potter then’’. ‘’Yes’’, I replied. His answer was – ‘’sign here’’!

Tony.

We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

Top ten facts about Harry James

Trumpet player and Band Leader 1916-83

1. By the age of 10 he was taking trumpet lessons from his father, who placed him on a strict daily

practice schedule. Each day, James was given one page to learn from the Arban Book of Studies and

was not allowed to pursue any other pastime until he had learned that particular page.

2. His was the first "name band" to employ vocalist Frank Sinatra, in 1939.

3. He wanted to change Sinatra's name to 'Frankie Satin' but Sinatra refused

4. He was in two featured roles in two films, Private Buckaroo and Springtime in the Rockies

5. Harry’s last professional job was on June 26, 1983, nine days before his death!

6. Harry did Kleenex commercials on television. They strapped a moist Kleenex over the bell of his

trumpet then demonstrated how strong it was by withstanding the force of his sound--even when

he hit the high notes.

7. For many years, Harry played whilst wearing false teeth - no easy feat.

8. In 1943, the Harry James Band was grossing between $20,000 and $30,000 per week turnover on

the road and in 1944 the band grossed $1 million – it was believed that Harry was on half of that!

9. According to an article in the Billboard, Harry was the youngest Circus Bandleader in the world – at

the age of 12!

10. Harry died after a long illness on July 5th 1983, forty years to the day that he married the actress

Betty Grable

Muso’s Jokes

How did Bob Marley like his doughnuts? Wi’ Jammin’!

I phoned up to buy tickets for an Elvis tribute act.

The voice said: “Press 1 for the money, 2 for the show…”

LEGO drum kits: if you can’t beat them, join them.

I’ve written a song about a tortilla. Well, it’s more of a rap.

I tried to write a drinking song once, but I couldn’t get past the first bar.

(Thanks to trombonist Chris Ricketts for that selection)

We hope you enjoy reading about one of the south coast's top Big Bands, the

'Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra'

Thanks to Eddie Beck for this.

That’s all folks! See you soon!