Dillington Jazz Week

Sunday 19th to Saturday 24th August 2012

Celebrate the long tradition of jazz with John Petters and his team through film, talks and performances.

Starting lazily at 11.00am each day there will be two talks followed by a film screening, although true to the spirit of jazz, there will be some improvisation and variation on this theme.

Musicians attending can enjoy a jam session and there’s even promise of a quiz or two!

 

Music featured will include New Orleans trad jazz, a tribute to Kid Ory, Fats Waller, Sidney Bechet, Django Reinhardt, Jelly Roll Morton, Lena Horne, Bing Crosby, Billie Holliday, Louis Armstrong and Woody Herman.

Wow!

Every evening there is a concert of live music featuring some of our best jazz musicians.

All-comers welcome.

Course:	The 2012 Dillington Jazz Week
Tutors	John Petters, Michael Pointon & Tim Phillips
Date:	Tea Sunday 19 - Breakfast Saturday 25 August
Res Fee From:	£705
Non Res Fee:	£465

 

BOOK HERE

Programme

Directed by John Petters

Sunday 19th August

Martin Litton's History of Jazz piano with John Petters and Keith Donald.

The piano in jazz has an important history. Although jazz developed as a brass band music in New Orleans in the late 1800s and early 1900s, Ragtime, developed by such early black pioneers as Scott Joplin, was essentially a music for the keyboard. It was written down and played from sheet music. Joplin’s, ‘Maple Leaf Rag’ was said to have sold a million copies, which implies that huge numbers of piano players tried to play it.

In New Orleans, Jelly Roll Morton improvised raggy music and developed his own unique style, taking much from the music of the crescent city’s marching bands.

 

In Harlem, stride piano developed in the hands of Willie the Lion Smith, James P Johnson and Thomas Fats Waller. Duke Ellington and Count Basie were keen students of this school of piano professors.

Chicago and New Orleans offered the blues and boogie–woogie traditions.

Earl Fatha Hines developed a trumpet style approach to his solos, inspired by his work with Louis Armstrong.

Teddy Wilson, Mary Lou Williams, Nat King Cole and Erroll Garner all had their own styles, but one pianist was regarded as the ‘god’ of the piano – Art Tatum. His dazzling technique impressed these giants from the world of classical music, Vladimir Horowitz, Arthur Rubinstein, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Leonard Bernstein, Leopold Godowsky and George Gershwin,  who marveled at Tatum's genius.

The first set of this concert feature a trip through the history of jazz piano conducted by our very own piano ‘professor’, martin Litton. Litton is acknowledged as one of the finest early jazz piano stylists on the scene. He has worked in the bands of Kenny ball and Humphrey Lyttelton and appeared on record dates with a host of American stars such as Wild Bill Davison, Kenny Davern and Yank Lawson. He is a talented arranger and a transcriber of the recordings of Morton. In collaboration with John Petters, he recorded definitive versions of Joplin and Morton rags for the album, Ragtime Revisited in 2009.

See Martin Littontalking about Morton's King Porter Stomp a see the trio play Martin's arrangementy of this Morton classic. Click image below,

See a 10 minute preview of the DVD / CD box set, Ragtime Revisited. Click image below

Order the DVD here

&  

Stompin’ at the Savoy –  The Music of the Benny Goodman Trio with John Petters, drums, Julian Marc Stringle, clarinet and Martin Litton, piano.

Benny Goodman was given the title ‘King of Swing’in the 1930s when his orchestra attracted the teenage fan behaviour associated with Sinatra in the ‘40s, Presley in the ‘50s and the Beatles in the ‘60s.

A virtuoso clarinettist, Goodman’s was a rags to riches story. Born into an impoverished Jewish immigrant family in Chicago in 1909, young Benny showed promise at a very early age. Whilst in short pants he made his records with Ben Pollack’s Orchestra, then went with Red Nichols Five Pennies, which also featured Glenn Miller and Jack Teagarden on trombones and a youthful Gene Krupa on drums.

In the middle of the depression in 1935, Goodman summonsed Krupa to leave the ‘mickey mouse’ dance band he was playing with to join Goodman’s new Jazz Orchestra. Following a long struggle, band hit it big on the west coast. 

 

An off shoot of the Orchestra was the BG Trio, which was formed when Benny heard the black pianist, Teddy Wilson at a party hosted by vocalist, Mildred Bailey. Benny ignored his hostess and the guests and just played brilliant music with Wilson, all night long.

In the studio a few days later, along with Krupa on the drums, the Trio created the first of a long series of memorable recordings which were labeled ‘chamber jazz’.

Wilson was a dazzlingly stunning piano player, whose left hand was so strong that there was no need for a bass.

Krupa – the first drummer to achieve international stardom – and more or less the inventor of the extended drum solo in jazz – had learnt his craft from the fathers of New Orleans Jazz drumming, Baby Dodds and Zutty Singleton.  His beat was solid and his technique first class.

See John Petters play sing Sing Sing part ll. Click image below

Julian Marc Strangle is well qualified to interpret the music of Benjamin David Goodman. A supreme musician with a fluent command of his instrument, Julian has delighted music fans all over the world. He made his first TV appearance at the age of 14 with Mr Acker Bilk. He has worked in recent years with the late George Melly and is currently appearing with Blues singer, Paul Jones.

"The best clarinettist to emerge in British jazz for decades" - Sir John Dankworth.

John Petters – Let the critics speak:

Ted des Plantes - The Mississippi Rag (USA)
" England's finest Traditional Jazz Drummer."

Peter Hepple - The Stage
"John Petters is a solid and showy drummer..... and a humourous, fluent compere of the proceedings, as well as a useful singer"

Kevin Henriques - The Financial Times
"Petters is an unashamed disciple of the Jazz of Benny Goodman & Gene Krupa ......he sets the mood for this neat swinging group."

Art Hodes - Legendary Jazz & Blues Pianist
" Carrying the torch we lit"

John Petters with Wild Bill Davison & Art Hodes

See john with Wild Bill and Art Hodes at the Playhouse, Harlow in 1989. Click image below.

Falmouth & Penryn Leader (reviewing the Legends of American Dixieland show)
"It's doubtful whether the two veterans could have found a better group to work with than the John Petters Group".

Monday 20th August

11:00 First Lecture

The Traditional Jazz  Revival

Mike Pointon.

Mike explores the fascinating story of the traditional jazz revival in Britain with particular emphasis on the contribution made by George Webb and Ken Colyer.

Mike Pointon has many strings to his bow. Of prime interest to jazzers is his hard driving, no nonsense,  ‘gut bucket’  trombone playing. This has been head alongside such original New Orleans musicians as, Albert Nicholas, (who recorded with Kid Ory), Cap’n John Handy and Alton Purnell.

In the UK he could often be found in the band led by the Guv’nor of New Orleans Jazz, Ken Colyer, so it is no surprise that wearing his author’s hat, Mike’s book, ‘Goin’ Home – the Uncompromising Life and Music of Ken Colyer (written in collaboration with Ray Smith and Martin Colyer) won the all Party Parliamentary Jazz Award for Jazz Publication of the year in 2011.

As a broadcaster, he wrote and presented, ‘Bunk ‘n’ Bill’ for Radio 2 and wrote ‘Melly on Jelly’ and a documentary about Bessie Smith for George Melly on BBC Radio 2.

Mike’s interest in comedy led to a close association with comedian, Max Wall, gained him an interview with Bob Hope and correspondence with the iconic Stan Laurel.

See Mike in this tribute to Ken Colyer. Click image below

14:00 Second Lecture

Ragtime & Jelly Roll Morton & the Early Piano Styles – Martin Litton

Martin discusses the development of Ragtime and early jazz piano styles from Scott Joplin's Rags to the New Orleans styles of Tony Jackson & Jelly Roll Morton and the Stride developments of Fats Waller, James P johnson and Willie The Lion Smith.

16:00 Movie Time - Stormy Weather – Fats Waller, Lena Horne, Bill Bojangles Robinson

See Fats Waller in the famous Ain't Misbehavin' Clip from Stormy Weather. Click image below.

19:00 Live Concert

Tailgate Ramble - A Celebration of  Kid Ory

Chez Chesterman, Karl Hird, Mike Pointon, Martin Litton, Tim Phillips. Keith Donald & John Petters.

Chez Chesterman

Listen to a clip from Tailgate Ramble by John Petters Creole Jazz Band. Click image below.

Order the CD - click image below.

Edouard ‘kid’ Ory was born at Woodland Plantation near La Place, Louisiana, on Christmas day 1886.

He formed his first band during the 1910s in New Orleans, employing many of the city’s most important jazz figures, including King Oliver and Louis Armstrong.

He made the first recordings by a black, real New Orleans Jazz Band in 1922. In Chicago, later that decade, he was to be heard on records with Jelly Roll Morton’s Red Hot Peppers, Louis Armstrong’s Hot Five and King Oliver’s Dixie Syncopators.

See Karl Hird & Chez Chesterman, click image below

The wall Street Crash of 1929 forced Ory to give up professional music and he ran a chicken ranch with his brother during the ‘30s.

Film actor and director, Orson Welles, a fan of New Orleans Jazz, approached Ory and invited him to assemble a band for his radio show. The Kid Ory Creole Jazz Band was formed and became one of the most important revival bands, appearing in such movies as , ‘New Orleans’ with Louis Armstrong and Billie Holliday and ‘ The Benny Goodman Story’.

See Ory in 1959, click image below.

 Ory is credited with having composed a number of jazz standards including, ‘Muskrat Ramble’ and ‘Savoy Blues’, as well as his test piece for jazz trombonists, ‘ Ory’s Creole Trombone’.

 He toured Britain to great acclaim in 1959 and died at the age of 86 in 1973.

Second Set

Swing Swing Swing – The Small Groups of the ‘30s and ‘40s with Julian Marc Stringle, Karl Hird, Martin Litton,  Tim Phillips, Keith Donald & John Petters

This sensation second set turns the spotlight on the swinging small groups of the immediate pre war and early war years. Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Lionel Hampton, in fact, nearly all the big bands had the informal small group that played no holds barred hot jazz. This set celebrates those bands.

See Julian Stringle. Click image below

Tuesday 21st August

11:00 First Lecture

Bunk 'n' Bill – Mike Pointon

The story of Bill Russell’s historic search for trumpet legend Bunk Johnson and his subsequent historic recordings in New Orleans (based on Mike’s Radio 2 programme) Mike will discuss the influence Russell's recordings of Bunk, Wooden Joe Nicholas, George Lewis and other pioneers shaped traditional jazz throughout the world during its revival period.

14:00 Second Lecture

Django Reinhardt and the Gypsy Jazz Tradition - Tim Phillips

Tim looks at the phenomenon of Gypsy Jazz in Europe and charts its history chiefly in the hands of the iconic Django Reinhardt. See a rare Clip of Django performing. click image below.

16:00 Movie Time

Second Chorus – Fred Astaire & Artie Shaw & His Orchestra

 

19:00 Live Concert

First Set: Swing From Paris – The Gypsy Jazz tradition of Django Reinhardt with Karl Hird, Jonathan Graham, Tim Phillips, Keith Donald.  

Django Reinhardt was an illiterate Belgian gypsy, who could neither read nor write music. He was a virtuoso guitarist, whose career was nearly over before it started, due to his loss of the use of two fingers as a result of fighting a fire in his caravan. He overcame this impediment to become the first European voice in jazz.

Jonathan Graham

His recordings with French violinist, Stephane Grappelli and the Quintette du Hot Club de France caused a sensation before WWll.

Fleeing the UK at the outbreak of war, Django returned to France, to a great risk of capture by the Nazis, whose dislike of Romanies was akin to their disapproval of jazz. It is thought that he escaped the death camps because a jazz loving Luftwaffe officer, Dietrich Schulz-Köhn, nicknamed "Doktor Jazz, offered him protection.

He went to the USA and played with Duke Ellington’s orchestra and performed at Carnegie Hall. He was among the first in France to embrace the new music of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and switched from acoustic to electric guitar in his later years. He died in 1953.

This half of the concert will showcase many of the quintet’s pre war numbers, including ‘Nuages’, ‘I Wonder Where My Baby is Tonight’ and ‘Sweet Georgia Brown’.

See Swing From Paris in action, click image below.

Jonathan Graham is a talented young guitarist, trumpeter, banjoist and classical composer. He heard jazz as a youngster on BBC Radio 2 and his enquiring musical mind led him to discover such luminaries as Bix Beiderbecke, Eddie Lang and of course, the sensational Django. Jonathan possesses a stunning technique, so essential for capturing the spirit of Reinhardt’s music.

 

Second Set

Bunk’n’Bill with Allen Beechey, Karl Hird, Mike Pointon, Tim Phillips, Keith Donald & John Petters.

An exciting session of New Orleans jazz based on the repertoire that Musicologist, Bill Russell captured for posterity in the 1940s and which inspired the traditional jazz boom in Britain a decade later.

Bunk was a mysterious figure who was, by the late ‘30s, a legend in New Orleans. Louis Armstrong said he was influenced by ‘ Bunk’, but could not remember his surname.  Bill Russell, a young jazz ‘nut’ was instrumental in tracking Bunk down in New Iberia and found he had no teeth and no trumpet.

Hear one of Bill Rusell's famous American Music recordings with Bunk. Click image below.

Russell arranged for a set of dentures to be provided by Leonard Bechet, brother of saxophonist Sidney Bechet, and provided Johnson with a trumpet. He selected a group of non union musicians which featured clarinettist, George Lewis and included the famous pioneer drummer, Warren ‘Baby’ Dodds.

Using primitive recording equipment, Russell made frequent trips to New Orleans to record Johnson for his small ‘American Music’ label. These records in turn inspired Ken Colyer in Britain and later Acker Bilk and the trad jazz boom.

Hear Bunk's Brass Band and him talking about funerals and spirituals in New Orleans. Click image below

Wednesday 22 August

11:00 First Lecture

The Rhythm Section - Tim Phillips.

Tim investigates the engine room of the jazz orchestra – piano, guitar, banjo, bass and drums.

14:00 Second Lecture

This Joint Is Jumpin’ – The Music of Fats Waller

John Petters discusses the life, music and legacy of the pianist / vocalist / entertainer and composer .

16:00 Movie Time: New Orleans – Louis Armstrong, Billie Holliday, Kid Ory and Woody Herman.

See a clip from this wonderful movie. Click image below.

19:00 Live Concert

This Joint Is Jumpin’ – The Music of Fats Waller – the live concert of Waller’s music with Allen Beechey, Karl Hird, Dave Browning, Tim Phillips, Keith Donald & John Petters

‘50,000 Kilovolts of Jive’, ‘the harmful little armful’, ‘the cheerful little earful’  were just some of the tags associated with the larger than life pianist, composer, vocalist and entertainer, Thomas Wright ‘Fats’ Waller.

This lively presentation transports the listener back to the swing era and Harlem in the ‘30s with such Waller evergreens as, ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, ‘Honeysuckle Rose’, ‘ My Very good Friend The Milkman’ and ‘Your Feets Too Big’.

Listen to clips from the above CD by John Petters & His Rhythm. Click below

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Both John Petters and Tim Phillips have a direct link back to Waller, having worked with the legendary guitarist, Al Casey, Waller’s long time guitarist and friend, during the 1980s.

John Petters with Al Casey

Allen Beechey has led his Bright Stars of Jazz for the past decade. A young cornetist playing music created fifty years before he was born, Allen could be regarded as unusual – but great music is timeless and the music of Wild Bill Davison, Buck Clayton and Louis Armstrong is what inspires this talented performer. With a couple of albums released by a New Orleans record label, he is clearly doing it very right indeed.

Dave Browning, (piano) has been playing on the British jazz scene for 20 years and has already proved to

be popular with audiences who love all piano jazz styles from stride to mainstream. Dave's main influence is 'Fats' Waller, with his rapturous left hand striding the keys. Enjoy Dave romping through these two sets of wonderful Waller melodies.

Thursday 23 August

11:00 First Lecture

Jazz Drumming from New Orleans to Be-Bop - John Petters

John discusses the early development of jazz drumming, including Baby Dodds, Zutty Singleton, Black Happy Goldston, Tony Sbarbaro, Ray Bauduc, Gene Krupa, George wettling, Dave Tough etc....

14:00 Second Lecture

Sidney Bechet

John Petters explores the life and music of the first king of the saxophone.

16:00 Movie Time: Gene Krupa Jazz Legend

 

19:00 Live Concert

Blame It On The Blues – The Music of Sidney Bechet with Pete Allen and Karl Hird, Dave Browning, Keith Donald & John Petters.

Sidney Bechet’s position in jazz history would have been assured if he had stuck just to playing clarinet. He was a major voice on the instrument in the early days in New Orleans. Noted Swiss orchestral conductor Ernest Ansermet wrote an article praising the youthful Bechet.

Bechet - with the Southern Syncopated Orchestra - was amongst the first jazz musicians to play in London, where he found an old soprano saxophone on sale in a pawn shop. He became the first jazz soloist on the saxophone and a superstar in France where he lived in his later years.

This session features  international clarinet and soprano saxophone star Pete Allen (who was made an Honorary Citizen of New Orleans in 1992 for his services to Music & Tourism) along with Australia’s clarinet king, Karl Hird, with Dave Browning, piano, Keith Donald, bass and John Petters, drums.

Such Bechet evergreens as , ‘Petite Fleur’, ‘Summertime’, ‘Wild Cat Blues’ and ‘Runnin’ Wild’ will be included.

Friday 24 August

11:00 First Lecture

The Jazz Vocalists

John Petters looks at the development of Jazz singing from Armstrong to Crosby, Sinatra and Bennett and Bessie Smith to Billie Holliday and Ella Fitzgerald.

14:00 Second Lecture

We Called it Music

John Petters explores the musical legacy of Eddie Condon in the Chicago of the Al Capone, Prohibition and the Speakeasys.

16:00 Movie Time: The Soundies – a compilation of short Jazz films mainly from Harlem

 

19:00 Live Concert

Honey & Broken Glass – The Poetry, Prose and Musical Loves of Phillip Larkin.

Presented by Martin Vander Weyer with Karl Hird, clarinet, Dave Browning, piano, Keith Donald, bass & John Petters, drums and vocals.

Philip Larkin (1922 -1985) was one of the major literary talents of the last century. He grew up in the ‘30s when jazz was becoming popular. His love affair with the music began when he heard records by such legends as Armstrong, Bechet, Condon and Beiderbecke.  He wrote a regular review column for the Daily Telegraph and his controversial views about modern jazz caused disdain amongst fellow critics. Larkin liked his jazz hot!

Martin Vander Weyer is a columnist in the Spectator magazine, and an author, playwright and poet. His latest book is Fortune's Spear, the biography of a 1920s fraudster. He is also the former director of Helmsley Arts Centre in North Yorkshire.

See John Petters Quartet performing the show at Rydale Arts Festival. Click image below.

This unique show was premiered to a sell-out audience at the Ryedale Arts Festival in 2010.

Book here