71,000 Thanx.

Robyn stamped this for me;

It's a really hectic time - getting ready for another operation, trying to sort out a wedding. So I'm a couple of days late in saying thank you for taking the Blog to 71000 hits.

On Monday we had an evening at our Jazz Club at The Red Lion, Isleworth.

This is Theo Travis on Sax and Martin Shaw on Trumpet.

Hiding, you can just make out Trevor Tomkins beating out the drums.

Meanwhile, we planted up another tub of lettuce, to keep the salads coming into the summer.

As you can see, the herbs are doing fine and the Lettuce and Rocket are coming along nicely too;

Robyn swears she'll never eat another dried herb again.

That's going to be a problem in the autumn!

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)
Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

A nice mute at the Red Lion.

Still ill (of course) but we struggled out to our Jazz club at The Red Lion, Isleworth anyway.

These days I'm quite a sight; with a broken back I can't cope with three hours perched on an armchair, so I have to take a folding chair with me.

It was crowded and we ended pushed right up at the back, in the corner where the fruit machine used to be. I had a tough day, so by the time I got there I was worn out.

Good music though, this is Martin Shaw;

I do love a mute on a well played trumpet.

You can't see them but in the background was Trevor Tompkins on drums, Dave Green on bass and Kate Williams on keyboards.

We also had a new guest this week - Frank Griffith on Saxophone;

 

 

I've always enjoyed the way Martin Shaw plays 'Bye Bye Blackbird' on a mute but tonight the duet with Frank Griffith was something special; two very quiet and breathy soloists on a quiet night.

 

It's definitely not summer any more!

 

Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 



Saving the Red Lion? Well, the band played on.

My ribs are still screaming when I change gear but I made it to The Red Lion, Isleworth to take in some Jazz. It was a good night - the next three Mondays will be nights to remember too.

The campaign to try to save the pub continues. If you haven't signed the petition I would urge you too do so. The link is here;

http://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/list-isleworth-s-red-lion-as-a-community-asset

This is an independent community campaign. It doesn't have anything to do with the landlords who are currently in the process of decorating the pub and creating a better online image; to boost the sale price.

The petition is to have the pub listed as a 'community asset' which means it can't be redeveloped.

Anyway, in this picture you can see Martin Shaw playing his trumpet with a mute; I love mute trumpet and don't understand why Jazz uses it so little. I suspect that trumpet players want to be as loud as possible....less is more!

Martin Shaw played a lot of mute and it was good!

I really enjoyed a version of the standard 'Bye Bye Blackbird' which is in fact a depression era song about an alcoholic trying to quit a cheap rot gut 'whiskey' called 'Blackbird'.

Martin pulled the theme about and deconstructed it until nothing was left. Then, after a while to think about it, the band pulled it all back together again.

That's Jazz. 

Sheer genius.

This is Sam Mayne on Sax;

Behind, as ever is Trevor Tomkins on drums. Hopefully, Trevor isn't going to have to start looking for a new home for the club - it's about the best in London thanks to him.

Robin Aspland was swingin' on keyboards and Tim Wells was on bass - shining when he ganged up with Martin Shaw's trumpet for a quiet duet.

A good night - we're going to have to fight to keep them happening.

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home:  helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me (I don't bite, often);
 
neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

A mute at the red Lion - Mmmmmmh!

 



This is Martin Shaw blasting out his trumpet at The Red Lion, Isleworth Jazz Club on Monday night, just before my birthday.

I did enjoy Miles Davis's 'Four' and Charlie Parker's 'Scrapple from the Apple', both very familiar and much loved pieces.

With Trevor Tomkins on Drums, Alec Dankworth on bass and John Horler on piano it was a very fine quintet.

Here's Sam Mayne on Saxophone;

 

 

 

And as ever, I love a mute on a trumpet - this is Martin playing Dizzy Gillespie's 'Night in Tunisia'; 

 

 

 

 

 

Neil Harris

(a don't stop till you drop production)

 

 

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact me:  neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com





That's Jazz.

Monday night, what better way to forget about a bad day coming up than to be enjoying the company of Martin Shaw playing his trumpet here with a mute (love that) and Dave O'Higgins on Saxophone at my Jazz Club at The Red Lion down in Isleworth.

 

There in the back row is Nick Weldon taking the bass somewhere extreme while this is the exceptional Leon Greening on keyboards.

 

I had to stretch to get this shot - it's at the start of the evening but as the night goes on he gets more and more hunched over the keys until there's a point when his hair and the ivory meets.

 

And that's Jazz.

 

 

 



You are just missing a shot of the great Trevor Tomkins on drums but I am going to do a special on him later!

Neil Harris
(a don't stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
contact me: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

Sultry June nights.

Monday didn’t really happen for me – which is why I was taking photos of hay. It makes sense, really it does, if only to me.

So instead of a meeting in London and a visit to The Museum of Water, I went to my Jazz club;

On Trumpet and Flugelhorn Martin Shaw;

 

I do love a mute trumpet, well played.

 

While on saxophone Sam Mayne;

 

Sam is very expressive during the quiet, sultry passages and on the hottest, sultriest night of the year so far that was nice. Trever Tomkins provided the drums, John Horler Piano and Dave Green on Bass.

I also thought I’d introduce you to my friend Robyn from West Philadelphia;

 

 Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

5 Mondays, lucky for some.

I made it back to my Jazz club (The Red Lion, Isleworth)  on Monday but I’m a bit of a stranger there now. I only made it once in January, the month with 5 Mondays (check it out – no wonder we get sad) because I was looking after my Mum or I was ill or I was getting back too late from my Monday clinic. Too many excuses. Mind you, 5 Mondays would have been great if I could have made it in.

So this Monday I sank back into the world of Modern Jazz with Martin Shaw (star of stage and screen) standing in on trumpet;

 

Ed Jones on Sax was new to me but he blew me away with his playing;

 

And Trevor Tomkins was pretty ace on the drums, with a solo without sticks on ‘Mama Cita’, and that number brought out the best in everyone – trumpet, Sax and John Pearce on keyboards. John certainly swung and there were some great quiet spells with reflective drums and Dave Green twacking his bass. Good to be back there and I’m glad I made it back, although it’s tougher to do it now.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home:   helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

Contact: neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com

 

Blue Christmas.

J

Sunday, three days before Christmas, I staggered home from Tesco’s exhausted. A couple of people were actually close to fighting in there. Hey, I’m not even having a Christmas this year, people don’t know how lucky they are. As I fought my way through I couldn’t help thinking how unimportant it all is really. Just to help my mood, for lunch I had half of last weeks pizza exhumed from the freezer. Afterwards I visited my Mum in hospital, then on the way back I went to see a band but because I don’t do bad reviews, I won’t do one this time.

Pompous pumped up power ballads for the portly middle aged – that just about covers it. Or another way of saying the same thing is that it was a load of P.

I got home and in a fit of madness I started to cook a Christmas cake, which was not clever. I didn’t have all the ingredients – last time I did a cake I didn’t have them all and winged it. I replaced the missing ones – now different ones are missing.

I was too tired, started it far too late and got more tired doing it. I’m not even doing Christmas this year; what came over me? I ended up using too many bowls, too many spoons, making too much mess. Not enough raisins or spice in the mix.

It’s in the cooker now, spoiling. It went in far too late and I’ll be sat there waiting for it to finish. I don’t even know who is going to eat it.

Perhaps if I was to smother it in Brandy? Then again it may be better just to drink the brandy and put the cake in the bin.

And if any of you say ‘Aaaah, its Christmas’, I will come round and sort you out. Remember I know where you live.

Monday and a trip to my clinic, struggling through a storm and happy crowds on their way up to town. The result? A no score draw - no test result. Two weeks time and there will be. Hmmmmh.

And then in the evening I went back out through a wild storm of branches crashing down and flooded roads– to the Red Lion, Isleworth for my jazz club.

 

You don’t miss a chance to hear Martin Shaw on trumpet and flugelhorn – he’s a star of stage and screen and Sam Mayne is a great saxophonist. Together it added up to a whole lot of Thelonious Monk and that suited me.

I’ve got a really busy day tomorrow – after the fiasco of the cake I’ve got a ham to cook amidst a general struggle of not doing Christmas.

Let’s see what a mess I can make of that.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home: helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com

All smiles.

At last, the weather matched the time of year – it’s June, the month of lazy days and long cool evenings. Down at the Red Lion, Isleworth, there wasn’t much lazy but plenty of cool. Then disaster struck; ‘Time Out’ magazine has declared it ‘The best Jazz Pub in london’. It’s a disaster because nowadays I want to keep this a secret. Also, there isn’t much competition these days.

www.red-lion.info

Martin Shaw came along with his trumpet, a flugelhorn and a mute – Karen Sharp was on Saxophone and John Horler on keyboards, the back row was Trevor Tomkins on Drums and Dave Green, bass. Those two have been together off and on for quite a while and it shows. It was all smiles tonight.

One highlight was Hank Mobley’s ‘This I dig of you’, which brought out the mute but didn’t quieten anything down – in fact Trevor Tomkins decided to put on his own Mobley memorial, giving his drums a good ‘workout’.

 

 

 She’s looking pretty mean here but it’s always a breathy, throaty sax from Karen Sharp and today a dreamy flugelhorn to go with it. John Horler was solid on ‘Sonara’ and in his own composition ‘One for Clifford’ although I didn’t recognise this version and I’ve heard it before.

 

 

Best for me was ‘Bye, Bye, Blackbird’, heavy on the mute here and very delicate phrasing from Martin Shaw –Grown up Jazz for a long summers evening.

The last short number, McCoy Tyner’s ‘Blues on the corner’ gave the trumpet and Sax a showcase, Dave Green and Trevor Tomkins had already taken their chances again on the Bird’s ‘Scrapple from the Apple’.

I spilled out into the night and drove home in company with Radio 2’s David Rodigan playing old style 1960’s Reggae, a good rhythm to go with the Great West Road and a long, long June night.

Neil Harris

(a don’t stop till you drop production)

Home:                        helpmesortoutstpeters.blogspot.com
Contact:           neilwithpromisestokeep@gmail.com