week 8 special features
International jazz veterans, John Patrick and Digby Fairweather present 70 YEARS OF JAZZ at The Ent Shed on 20 June from 4.30 pm followed by a gig from 7.30 pm. Get a day pass and spend the weekend enjoying Bedfordshire Music's Jazz Cafe 1 pm each day, Festival Footlights at 6 pm and The Truth about Men and Women at 8.30 pm - Edinburgh preview by former Bedford teacher, Geoff Norcutt. The Footlights mirrors the incredible career from Mark Rutherford School via Cambridge Footlights to BBC's Mock the Week and the Jon Stewart Daily Show on US TV of Festival Patron John Oliver. Footlights comic Paul Coles, former Sharnbrook student now at Cambridge, is appearing at 6 pm and just might be following in John's footprints! Come and see for yourself.
Digby Fairweather (above)
John Patrick (above)
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Review: John Patrick Band, Ent Shed, 20th June 2009
The Best in British Jazz
Many years ago the great Louis Armstong made the comment that even if only five people turned up to hear him, he would give the same performance as if five hundred were there because one of those people may have travelled a long distance just to see him. It was in that same spirit that the John Patrick Band played to an audience of modest numbers at the Entertainment Shed in June.
John Patrick’s chosen band for this occasion included huge names from the world of British jazz including two members of the Humphrey Lyttelton Band: John Rees-Jones on bass and Adrian Macintosh on drums and the indefatigable Digby Fairweather on cornet, who not only leads his own ‘Half Dozen’ but also tours with Paul Jones, writes, records and passionately develops and promotes the cause of jazz in Britain. John Patrick himself led his own Big Band for many years as well as working as the Musical Director for Midlands Television and accompanied some of the biggest names in world jazz including Anita O Day, Ben Webster and Zoot Sims.
The afternoon session tracing Jazz over the past seventy years included ‘Chinatown’, ‘I’ll Be Seeing You’, ‘I’m Looking for the Girl with the Wistful Eyes’ and a wonderful rendition of Theolonius Monk’s ‘Round Midnight’. The evening performance had the informal atmosphere of a jazz club as the band romped their way through a wide range of classic jazz numbers including Coleman Hawkin’s ‘It’s the Talk of the Town’, ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’, Louis Armstrong’s ‘Struttin With Some Barbecue’ and ‘I Want a Little Girl’, ‘Sweet Lorraine’ and ‘Avalon’.
This was jazz at its very best. First rate musicians with a lifetime of experience covering a wide range of distinctive jazz styles and tastes. The band welcomed a number of floor singers, which included a soulful and spirited version of ‘Night and Day’. The relaxed and informal atmosphere provided time for the audience to chat with the band members and it proved to be a very special evening of exceptional music delivered by some of the very best musicians in British jazz today.
Chris Ure
Bedford Jersey Arts festival
1 May – 5 July 2009 in Bedfordshire UK
Celebrating 70 years of friendship 1939—2009
“Victoria College, Jersey children evacuated to Bedford School during the Nazi Occupation of Jersey in WWII”
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