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Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Society

Newsletter No. 45 May 2015

Contents

Page

1. Meeting Summary ... 2

2. Members News ... 6

3. Swap an Idea ..... 11

4. Membership ........... 13

5. Gig List ...... 15

6. Reviews ....... 18

7. Of Interest ..... 20

8. Tuition ... 21

9. Sales/Wants/Trades ..... 24

10. Charts .... 29

11. The lighter side of music...... 30

12. Services.... 31

Celebrating the art and craft of jazz guitar

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1. Meeting Summary

Hi Jazz Guitar Fans,

The evening kicked off with Swing of Things guitarist Tom

Prior performing a solo rendition of the Albert Von Tillotson

number "Oh by Jingo, Oh be Jee, You're the Only Girl for

me". The piece showcased Tom's ability as a fine solo

performer, shifting between up-tempo ragtime and more

relaxed rubato feel during the middle of the piece. For his

second number Tom was joined by Martin for a

humorous, impromptu take on a jazz blues.

Next up were society regulars Chris and Dave who always

entertain with their duet arrangements and wide

repertoire of songs. Their first tune was the swinging

1937 standard "That Old Feeling". Dave took the first

solo executing many of his trademark lines. Chris

provided a contrast with a darker, more mellow, tone

with some interesting diminished lines. Their second tune

"It Could Happen to You" was played in typically playful style with Dave adding additional

colour with his harmonised vocals during his solo.

Next to the stage and were Ian, Adrian and Pete who

commonly performed as The Jazz Dawgs playing a

variety of standards and Western Swing numbers. Their

first number "Harlem Nocturne" featured some great

guitar harmonies characteristic of a 'Dawgs performance

with some interesting tempo changes throughout the

tune. Adrian's standout solo was one of the highlights of

the evening, alternating between sparse sustained

phrases and some incredibly fiery lines. The 'Dawgs

second tune was a medley of Grooving High and Whispering. Again, the unison electric

guitar lines provided a fatness of texture with Pete's percussive rhythm playing propelled the

piece along wonderfully.

After the break the society was treated to Sam,

Ade and Ben performing "Have you met Miss

Jones". Some great bop lines from Sam here all

underpinned by Ben's solid electric bass work. It

was clear the two soloists enjoyed sharing the

stage together immensely. The trio followed up

with a rendition of "What's New". Beginning with a solo, rubato intro by Adrian

before shifting up a gear, again featuring some highly fluid lines from Sam. Adrian once again

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raised the bar for the evening with some bubbly chromatic ascending lines followed up with a

very tasteful solo by Ben.

It was great to see Cheadle Jazz Guitar Society chairman and

tutor Trefor Owen returning to this side of the Pennines.

Trefor was joined by Curtis, one of the youngest players to

perform at the guitar society, who has recently secured a

jazz scholarship at Guildhall, London. The duo performed

the 1964 bossa "Watch What Happens" with Curtis taking

the head embellishing the melody with choppy funky

syncopations that added real drive to the piece. During his solo Curtis went on to perform

some lovely octave lines sensitively accompanied by Trefor. This was followed by a great solo

from Trefor culminating in some rapid chromatic, alternate picked lines.

Steve and Larry took to the stage performing "All of Me".

Steve performed the melody in characteristically bluesy style.

Steve's bright percussive acoustic tone against Larry's Warm arch

top made a pleasing contrast to the overall performance. The

piece motored along nicely with an infectious foot-tapping

groove, ultimately culminating in a final, jovial singalong between

the two performers.

The evening concluded with a bit of friendly one-upmanship (guitar

strings that is) with Martin, playing 8 string guitar, and Jez who

gave us their trade mark funky interpretations of Jobims How

Insensitive and Ellingtons Things Aint What They Used to Be.

Another great night at the Rat & Ratchet.

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Jazz Guitar Festival News

The program has now started to firm up and looks like this: -

Saturday 11th

6:00 7:00 Jam session

Concert 10 8:00 Roy Sainsbury (HJGS members 8) 9:45 Jim Mullen organ trio

Performances

Time Bar Area Beer Garden

12:00 Dave Vangelderen & Chris Brown (Weather Permitting)

1:00 Sam Dunn Dave Vangelderen & Chris Brown

2:00 Darren Dutson Bromley Sam Dunn

3:00 Trefor Owen Jade Harris Band

4:00 Ian Wroe, Paul Kean, Carol Brown Trefor Owen

5:00 Remi Harris Ian Wroe, Paul Kean, Carol Brown

Workshops

Time Given By Subject Fee

12:00 Darren Dutson

Bromley

From Blues to Jazz 1 embellish your playing using techniques Illustrated by the styles of

Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass and Barney Kessel 5

1:00 Trefor Owen Effective accompaniment and the Maj 7th

as a soloing tool 5

2:00 Roy Sainsbury Harmonic Lines - How you can discover new

playable chord voicings and melodies for

comping and soloing. 5

3:00 Remi Harris

Gypsy Jazz Guitar Techniques - effective picking and fingering methods as well as

harmonic and rhythmic concepts.

Efficient Practice and Study Methods for

All Styles - how to get the best results from

your practice time.

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4:00 Brian Eastwood General guitar maintenance - how to get

the best out of your instrument 5

5:00 Sam Dunn

Melodic bebop language and phrasing. Learn how to incorporate and adapt jazz lines

from the masters into your own playing, to

create your own melodic vocabulary.

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Sunday 12th

6:00 7:00 Jam session

Concert 10 7:30 Jade Harris Band

(HJGS members 8) 8:30 Remi Harris

9:30 John Etheridge

Performances

Time Bar Area Beer Garden

1:00 Remi Harris (Weather Permitting)

2:00 Trefor Owen Remi Harris

3:00 Adrian Ingram, Jez Platt, Ben Crosland

Surprise guest slot

4:00 Surprise guest slot Adrian Ingram & Darren Dutson Bromley

5:00 Sam Dunn Dave Vangelderen & Chris Brown

Workshops

Time Given By Subject Fee

1:00 Sam Dunn

Melodic Bebop Language and Phrasing. Learn how to incorporate and adapt jazz lines

from the masters into your own playing, to

create your own melodic vocabulary.

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2:00 Adrian Ingram Wes Montgomerys Trick Bag. Use of

inversions, 7b9s and universal tonal centres. 5

3:00 Remi Harris

Gypsy Jazz Guitar Techniques - effective picking and fingering methods as well as

harmonic and rhythmic concepts.

Efficient Practice and Study Methods for

All Styles - how to get the best results from your practice time.

5

4:00 Trefor Effective accompaniment and the Maj 7th

as a soloing tool 5

5:00 Al Morrison From Blues to Jazz 2 embellish your playing

using techniques illustrated by the styles of

Grant Green, Robben Ford and Larry Carlton

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Here also is a preview of the great raffle prizes to be won over the weekend: -

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Back to Contents

Signed copy of The Gibson Super 400 by Dr Tom Van Hoose

Star Prize (Donated by Tom James)

One set of Bulldog pickups hand-wound to your spec.

OR

One year subscription to Just Jazz Guitar magazine

OR

OR

Mikes Master Class of your choice

OR

Tickets 5

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2. Members News

Call for Membership Participation

We have had a few successful, I believe, examinations/investigations of members favourite tunes. If you feel you could do a similar job please let me know.

Send an email to huddjazzguitsoc@gmail.com or chat to any of the committee at the

next meeting.

Remember the HJGS exists for the benefit(s) of its members, so we need to hear from YOU: good, bad, indifferent, news, views, gossip, ideas, viewpoints, gigs,

sales wants, swaps etc, etc!

Please keep us informed of any jazz guitar related gigs, events, sales or other

item of interest, so that we can pass information on to other members. HJGS needs

to develop its wider network as an important forum for jazz guitar related information

and information exchange, so that we may all benefit from the collective wisdom and

uncoordinated information that undoubtedly exists amongst fans and connoisseurs.

The 10 most popular jazz guitars of all time

Adrian Ingram

Number 5: The Gibson Super 400

The Gibson Super 400 started life in 1934 and had a

massive 18 lower bout, making it the companys

largest bodied guitar by far. Before the advent of

modern, electric amplification the common

perception was that size equals volume; a

phenomenon that led to several manufacturers

offering instruments with 18, 18, and in the case

of one manufacturer (Charles and Elmer

Stromberg), 19 bodies!

Like most other Gibson archtops, the Super 400 underwent several changes as it evolved.

Subtle changes of shape, bracing, hardware and

scale-length are evident but the most significant,

and radical, were the introduction of a

cutaway (circa 1939) and electronics (circa 1951).

Nevertheless, acoustic examples continued to be offered side by side with the electric C.E.S

model (Cutaway, Electric, Spanish).

Like the L5, the Super 400 has always been perceived as the pinnacle of Gibsons art,

with a price tag to match! Its unwieldy size split opinion, in terms of preference between

these two high-end models, and it is no surprise to find that most Super 400 players have

been very big, tall or both! Kenny Burrell, Louis Stewart, Larry Coryell, Michael Howell,

Jimmy Ponder, Carlo Pes, Greg Clayton Bill DArango and ODonel Levy are some

examples. Of course, there are always exceptions, the most obvious being the late Eric

1937 1970

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Gale, whose petite, Buddha like, frame was so obscured by the Super 400s dimensions that

the guitar itself appeared to have sprouted a head and arms!

Like its sister model, the L5, the Super 400 appears to have been equally popular in

both its acoustic and electric formats. It is no surprise that the acoustic version was very

popular with Dance band guitarists, on account of its perceived volume and cut, and it

usually won out over its principal rival: the Epiphone Emperor. Long forgotten names such

as: Remo Biondi, John Cali, George Smith, Art Ryerson, Bobby Sherwood and Harry Volpe

were amongst the big band guitarists who, by example, helped establish the Super 400s

deservedly high reputation.

Possibly the greatest, and most visible, of the electric, Super 400 players has been

Kenny Burrell, through consistent use of a late 1960s Florentine (sharp) cutaway C.E.S.

model. Burrell also played a couple of cutaway (venetion i.e. rounded cutaway) acoustic

variants, mounted with either a Johnny Smith or B.J.B. floating pickup. Many of his LPs and

CDs showcase his playing on one of these instruments, as well as the use of photographs in

their artwork, providing a tacit endorsement of these glorious Gibsons!

Larry Coryell started his jazz career on an early 60s C.E.S. model and featured it on

his recordings with Gary Burton, Chico Hamilton and Chico OFarrill as well as his solo debut

Lady Coryell and the impressive duo outing with John McLaughlin (Spaces).

George Benson also used one early on as can be heard on New Boss Guitar,

Cookbook and Its Uptown. You can see him playing this guitar on youtube with the George

Benson Quartet live at the Newport festival; (Circa 1966).

(see https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ilMWCMu4Szc)

By 1968, however, Benson (not the pre-requisite tall person usually associated with

the Super 400) had moved onto the smaller bodied L5, Johnny Smith and Guild Artist Award

(and X500) eventually designing the even smaller bodied Ibanez George Benson GB10

model!

Anyone requiring more detailed information about these beautiful

instruments should check out Tom Van Hooses wonderfully

informative and aesthetically delightful book:

The Gibson Super 400, Art of the fine Guitar

Recommended listening

Kenny Burrell

God Bless the Child - CTI 504164-2

When Lights are Low Concord Jazz CCD 4083

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The Port of Harlem Jazzmen Blue Note

New Boss Guitar Prestige OJCCD-461-2

Its Uptown Columbia/Legacy CK 66052

OJCCD-461-2

Cookbook Columbia/Legacy 502470 2

OJCCD-461-2

Simba P-Vine 23459

Teddy Bunn (on acoustic Super 400)

George Benson

ODonel Levy

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As a follow on to this series of articles, how about you telling us about your favourite

guitar. How did you come by it? Why did you get it? What makes it your favourite?

In response to our call for your favourite guitar stories, hear is a contribution from Lin

Flanagan

The Gibson Johnny Smith Guitar

Many years ago, I finally realised that my mid-life crisis had well and truly arrived. My rock days were

long since gone and I was moving further into jazz and archtop territory. I had always preferred the

warm sound of the Gibson guitars. With a classical background, I had a preference for wider

fingerboards, too. However, my short and fat fingers often struggled with large stretches on widely

Guiding Spirit Contemporary CCD-14058-2

Hadda Brooks, Variety Bounce

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spaced frets. After some considerable research, I came across an archtop which appeared to suit my

physical attributes and my sonic tastes perfectly The Gibson Johnny Smith. I was already an ardent

admirer of Johnny Smith's guitar playing, but that's never a sufficient reason for buying an

instrument. There's a well-worn adage that merely possessing a set of Jack Nicklaus golf clubs will not

enable you to play like the Bear. Similarly, owning a Johnny Smith guitar will not endow you with the

ability to sound or play like the great man.

The Gibson Johnny Smith guitar was unique when it entered production in 1961. Unlike the Barney

Kessel and Tal Farlow signature models that began around the same time, Johnny was the chief

designer of his guitar and not merely an endorser with a limited degree of input. He wanted to create

the perfect acoustic instrument and then amplify it faithfully. To this end, he designed his model so

that the sound-producing top would vibrate unhindered. It was fitted with a single floating pickup

attached to the neck, with the volume control located on the pickguard.

The instrument came with 20 frets along a 25 scale length, which was notably

shorter than other guitars at the time. This reduced the spaces between the frets

and therefore rendered large stretches much more comfortable for those of us

with short fingers. Johnny's aim was to find a scale length that was as short as

possible without sacrificing the quality of the tone. He succeeded. The 20 frets,

rather than the more typical 21 or 22, allowed the pickup to be fitted in the

perfect location for a warm tone, far away from the bridge. The top was cross

braced instead of the typical parallel type that could be found on the rest of

Gibson's range, including the popular L5, and the neck ran underneath the full

length of the fingerboard into the bracing. These two factors greatly improved the

balance of sustain across all the strings and across the full range of the instrument.

The nut was set at 1 3/4 wide, which was 1/8 greater than standard. This

widened the fingerboard marginally nearer to the standard classical guitar. For

those of us with fat fingers, it helped to reduce the likelihood of erroneously

fingering adjacent strings. The depth of body was set at 3 1/8 to eliminate the

bass rumble that sometimes occurred with Gibson's regular 3 1/2. Meanwhile,

the 17 width at the bout made it more comfortable to hold than the usual 18.

For many guitarists and luthiers, the Gibson Johnny Smith was near perfection. The master luthier

Bob Benedetto cites the model as a major influence upon his own work. For all the positive aspects,

however, Johnny had two gripes with Gibson's production of his model. The company introduced a

version with a fairly pointless additional floating pickup near the bridge. This annoyed him

considerably, as no self-respecting jazz guitarist would ever seek the thin tone that resulted from a

bridge pickup. A greater irritant, however, was Gibson's refusal to manufacture tooling that would

create consistent neck profiles. The curve on the back of the neck varied wildly from one guitar to

another.

The result of Johnny's innovative design was an archtop guitar that was more than respectable as an

acoustic instrument. This can be heard on the Legends: Solo Guitar Performances album that he

shared with George Van Eps, where Johnny played his archtop guitar unamplified.

Johnny's goal of a guitar with a well-balanced sustain and a pureness of tone was not limited to the

instrument itself. He was also a pioneer in the development of dedicated amplifier construction.

Most amplifiers during the 1940s were not really intended for use with electric guitars. By the 1950s,

Ampeg were beginning to develop and build units specifically designed for the instrument. Johnny

1962 Gibson

Johnny Smith

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worked closely with the company to produce not only amplification that could handle the signal from

the pickup, but that would also provide a faithful interpretation of the guitar without boosting the

bass and treble parts of a frequency at the expense of its mid-range. The result was the Ampeg

Fountain of Sound, which was distinguishable for its upwards facing speaker and its consequential

resemblance to a coffee table. Although these amplifiers sold extremely well, not many have

survived the passing of time. Today, they are rarer than hens' teeth.

In the 1960s, Johnny's guitar endorsement with Gibson led to the production of the Gibson GA-75L

valve amplifier, which was largely based upon his Ampeg unit. The perfect match of instrument and

amplifier can be heard on two of the albums that he recorded for Verve - Johnny Smith and Johnny

Smith's Kaleidoscope. The GA-75L is almost as rare today as the Fountain of Sound. Rarer still is the

EMRAD Johnny Smith amplifier which was a transistor version of the Gibson unit made by a local

electrical engineer in Colorado in the late 1960s. Fortunately, the production of high quality acoustic

amplifiers in recent years has provided archtop guitarists with amplification capable of achieving the

pureness of tone for which Johnny was striving.

The Gibson Johnny Smith guitar was a top-of-the-range model and was priced accordingly. As a

consequence, many were bought by collectors who did little more than mothball them. For this

reason, those that come up for sale today are often in a good condition. Unfortunately, they come

with a price to match. For my own part, I could neither afford nor justify the typical going rate, which

currently stands at around 10,000. Luckily, I found a well-worn Gibson Johnny Smith that was within

my means. Quality of sound and playability were my sole concerns rather than any aesthetic details.

I've never regretted it for a minute.

Lin Flanagan

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3. Swap an Idea

This column appears to be popular so we will keep it for the time being. But, and this is an important but we do NEED YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS for this to be

successful. Contributions please to huddjazzguitsoc@gmail.com.

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4. Membership

Some memberships are now falling due for renewal, remember membership

lasts for a full 12 months from the paid up month and the following benefits are

only available to current paid up members.

The following deals have been negotiated for members on production of a current

membership card: -

Bulldog Pickups (Huddersfield) www.bulldogpickups.com

15% off all pickups and repairs/rewinds.

ElectroMusic (Doncaster) www.electromusic.co.uk

Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.

GTR (Huddersfield) www.gtrguitars.co.uk

10% discount on strings and accessories.

The Music Room (Cleckheaton) www.the-music-room.com

Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.

Matt Ryan www.guitarrepairer.com

10% off guitar repairs/setups

AmplifierCoversOnline.com www.amplifiercoversonline.com

Customised Equipment Covers On Demand

Frailers www.frailers.com

Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.

Foulds Guitars - Derby www.fouldsmusic.co.uk

Variable discount depending on the item(s) purchased.

The Amp Shack Contact Andrew Lazdins

Valve/Solid-State amp and Effect pedal repairs. Discount available. Phone: +44 (0) 7716 460 163

Email: theampshack@gmail.com

MicroVox www.westf.demon.co.uk

Acoustic instrument mics. 10% discount Phone: +44 (0) 1924 361550

Email: andrew@westf.demon.co.uk

Mac Amplification www.mac-amps.com

Amplifier + Pedal repairs Phone: 07716 860676

Email: repairs@mac-amps.com

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Mundo Music Gear www.mundomusicgear.co.uk

An ergonometric revolution for guitarists

We are actively pursuing other supplier/retailers and will let you know as soon as we

confirm them. Remember also that we welcome your suggestions re the future

direction of HJGS. Please get in touch.

Committee

Martin Chung

Publicity, joint treasurer, website/facebook and development

Darren Dutson Bromley

Ensembles, education, website/facebook and development

Adrian Ingram

Newsletter, education, international liaison and development

Ian Wroe

Host, joint treasurer, artiste relations, events and development

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Meetings

The first Tuesday of the month at The Rat & Ratchet, Huddersfield (see

http://www.ossett-brewery.co.uk/Pubs/HuddersfieldDistrict/tabid/1612/Default.aspx)

Remember the society needs YOUR views and input so, if you want to provide

a short introduction/discourse for a tune yourself or make any suggestions for a tune,

please speak to a committee member. We have already had some other interesting

ideas put forward which we are looking into. YOUR ideas are both vital and welcome.

It is YOUR society and the committee is there entirely on YOUR behalf. Please,

please get involved if you can!

2015 meetings Details may change

May 5th - Guest Night (Howard Alden)

Jun 2nd - Players Night

Jul 7th - Players Night

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Jul 11th/12th - A Summer Festival of Jazz Guitar

Aug 4th - Theme Night

Sep 1st - Players + Workshop (Jon Taylor-The Guitarist as accompanist, what

the soloist would like to hear))

Oct 6th - Guest Night (TBC)

Nov 3rd - Players Night

Dec 1st - Xmas Concert

Workshop/seminars

Please note that in order to ensure an effective combination of complete

workshop and some time for playing, these sessions will commence at 8:30 on the

dot.

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5. Gig List May

Tue 5th Howard Alden, Sam Dunn and Phil Kampen

9 (7 members).

Thurs 7th Adrian Ingram, Darren Dutson Bromley supporting Darius Brubeck at 7

Arts, Chapel Allerton, Leeds, 8:00pm

Thurs 7th Howard Alden, Phil Kampen and Dave Lee, Bingley Jazz Club, York

Street Sports and Social Club, 8:00pm

Fri 8th Howard Alden, Pendle Sandwich Bar, Colne 9:00pm

Sat 9th Howard Alden Jazz guitar Workshop, Yorkshire Music school, Salts Mill,

Victoria Rd, Saltaire, 2:00pm

Mon 11th Adrian Ingram with Groove Indigo, Hare & Hounds, Rothwell. 8:30pm

Sat 16th Larry Coryell, Adrian Ingram, Phil Robson, Trefor Owen, Andy Hulme.

Catrin Finch Centre, Wrexham.

Wed 20th Adrian Ingram, Jon Taylor, Ben Crosland, Paul Smith. The Head of

Steam, Huddersfierd, 8:30pm

Sat 23rd Adrian Ingrams Birthday bash, sitters-in welcome. Hosted by The Jazz

Dawgs. The Sportsman, Huddersfield, 4:00-7:00pm

Sun 24th Adrian Ingrams Jazz Dawgs. The Blacksmiths Arms, Lastingham. 4:00 &

8:00pm

June

Mon 1st Adrian Ingram, Ian Rose, James Robinson Quartet. Hare & Hounds,

Rothwell. 8:30pm

New Jazz Gig

The Jazz Dawgs will be hosting a regular monthly gig every 1st Sunday

(4:00pm 7:00pm) at the Grove, Huddersfield.

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The Dawgs will feature different guest(s) each month interspersed with the

occasional jam session in which anyone can play, (please bear in mind, however,

that it is a jam session and not an open mic!).

The Grove is considered by many to be the best pub in the area, it certainly

has the greatest variety of real ales! The roster so far is: -

Sun 7th June Guest - Ian Chalk

Sun 5th July Guest - Matt Hollborn

Live Jazz every Sunday and Tuesday at The Railway, Stockport

74-76 Wellington Road North, Stockport SK4 1HF

Tel 0161 477 3680

9-11pm free admission

Wakefield Jazz

Wakefield jazz have made an offer of a discount on their normal entry

price, if we can block book tickets. We believe the cut-off point is 10 tickets,

which reduces the entry cost to 10 (normally 14).

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6. Reviews

Invisible Cities

Mitch Haupers Liquid Harmonies Music, 2014

Subtitled original jazz and chamber music, Invisible Cities is the

debut release by composer/guitarist Mitch Haupers. On this

release he is joined by some outstanding musicians including Bob

Mintzer, saxophones and woodwind, Peter Erskine, drums, Alan

Pasqua, piano, and Darek Oles on bass. This unit forms the core

jazz element of the album although Mike Miller joins them on a

couple of tunes playing Brazilian guitar.

Although Haupers isnt yet a household name he isnt exactly a new kid on the block either. A

longstanding faculty member at the Berklee College of Music, on Invisible Cities he more

than proves his worth as a gifted composer, arranger and guitarist.

This is a superb album with intelligently written miniatures gently painting sonic landscapes

rather than frantic blowing and ego waving. Nothing is hurried and the music rarely rises

above a midlevel dynamic as each piece steadily unfolds, gently revealing hidden beauties.

The playing throughout is excellent with each musician playing with the kind of restraint that

comes with not having anything to prove, these guys are at the top of their respective fields

and this is music making of the highest order.

The album begins with Peter Erskines gentle drum introduction to the piece Veronicas

Lake before the melody is stated in unison by saxophone and guitar. Lyrical and beguiling,

the piece is based on two contrasting themes and features Mintzers expressive solo playing

and a warm, unhurried solo from Haupers. Downtime begins with some intricate bass

figures from Darek Oles against Alan Pasquass considered piano chording before the guitar

and saxophone enter playing an interweaving theme. Isla Mujeres could almost be a film

noir soundtrack with its gently unfolding melody implying a downtown urban landscape with

an underlying melancholy. By track six the album takes a completely different turn. Here the

jazz is replaced with a chamber orchestra, showcasing Haupers versatile compositional

skills. Initially I was confused by this selection and thought Id strayed onto a different album.

However on repeated plays it is an unusual yet enjoyable interlude, skillfully performed by a

mixture of Berklee faculty members and Boston Pops orchestra players and featuring

soprano Brooke deRosa and harpist Isabelle Oliver. The piece Beacon Street is almost like a

mini big band with some wonderful electric bass playing from Jimmy Haslip who guests on

the track. Haslip locks in with Erskine to produce a rhythm section as solid and supportive as

one could ever hope for. The last pieces are the sublime Waltz For Bill and the guitar duet

P.S Vita.

If you are after an album that is full of guitar fireworks and blistering runs then this probably

isnt the album for you. If you like intelligently written music, beautifully and sensitively played

by some very skilled musicians then I would recommend this album in a heartbeat.

Darren Dutson Bromley

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Out Of Nowhere

Jan Knutson Knutson Music

An album of eleven timeless standards and bop tunes recorded on

solo guitar, not a new concept but what is more astonishing is Jan

was at the time of the recording fifteen years old. Here he displays

a harmonic sense more highly developed than in most people twice

his age and he certainly has technique in abundance.

The album was produced by Frank Vignola and was recorded very dry with little if any

reverb, this coupled with the occasional sounds of Jan breathing and some handling noise

gives a very intimate sound.

His playing reminds me very much of Martin Taylor, particularly with the implied percussive

chording present in the quicker numbers coupled with strong walking bass figures.

Occasionally Jan will move into single note figures reminiscent of Joe Pass although not yet

displaying the intuitive harmonic sophistication of Pass. In a Sentimental Mood begins with

Bachs Dm Prelude before moving into a lyrical version of the piece mixing a loose arpeggio

based accompaniment with in-tempo swing. Jan often makes judicious use of pedal notes.

The opening piece I Get A Kick Out Of You begins with a pedal note introduction as does

Moose The Mooche but I particularly liked how he reharmonised the tune Moments Notice

to include a pedaled bass figure under the melody before moving into more conventional

harmonic territory.

It is very difficult to produce a solo guitar album of this nature and make it interesting. Whilst

often been technically impressive the similarity of the techniques used coupled with the

relatively small range of the guitar and the similar sonorities can all lead to potential tedium. I

think Jan has done a sterling job with this album and I enjoyed listening to it very much.

There are mistakes and occasionally his brain works quicker than his fingers making the

timing a little insecure but the musicality is always present and good taste generally prevails.

If this is album number one then I curious to see what comes next. Joe Passs successor as

a solo guitarist? On the strength of this album he may well become that. watch this

space.

Darren Dutson Bromley

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7. Of Interest

Found anything on the web or heard of something which may interest our members, then

this is the place for it.

Other Jazz Guitar Clubs/Societies

(We are 1 of only 4 jazz guitar societies in England)

Here are a few links: -

http://cheadlejazzguitarclub.wordpress.com/

http://www.southjazzguitar.org

http://www.treforowen.com/index.php?id=38

http://www.meetup.com/LondonJazzGuitarSociety/

http://members.iinet.net.au/~jgswa/index.htm Jazz Guitar Society of Western

Australia

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Web Sites

www.mambo-amp.co.uk

www.adrianingram.com

www.jazzdawgs.co.uk

http://jazzguitarscene.wordpress.com/

http://www.joefinn.net/html/jazz_guitar_almanac.html

http://jamieholroydguitar.com

http://www.darrendutsonbromley.com Check out Darrens pod casts

www.jazzonthetube.com

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8. Tuition

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Registry of Guitar Tutors (RGT) Jazz Guitar Diplomas

http://www.rgt.org/exams/jazz-guitar-performance-diploma.php

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Members of the HJGS might be interested in my Mike's Master Classes site

www.mikesmasterclasses.com

- also on FB and I have a Youtube channel "mgellar" that has clips from all of the

classes on there that are available for download.

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22

23rd NORTH WALES INTERNATIONAL JAZZ GUITAR

WEEKEND

Featuring

LARRY CORYELL

PHIL ROBSON, ADRIAN INGRAM

and TREFOR OWEN.

May 15th - 17th 2015 GLYNDWR UNIVERSITY

Mold Road, Wrexham, Wales, LL11 2AW

This year, 2015, North Wales Jazz is celebrating twenty five years of promoting

jazz events in North Wales, by presenting a year long series of keynote

concerts as well as many other events.

See www.northwalesjazz.org.uk for further information and enrolment form.

The May jazz guitar weekend will be in a different format to previous jazz guitar

weekends as it will not have A & B Groups as before, but a total of eight

masterclasses.

You can book for the whole weekend including both masterclasses and jam

sessions, or just for the Saturday, which is the LARRY CORYELL day.

The Larry Coryell day, (Saturday 16th) will include two masterclasses by Larry

Coryell - the first 10am to 12noon and the second - 2pm to 4pm - and the

evening concert 8.30pm.

The two Friday evening masterclasses - 7.30pm to 10pm - will be presented by

visiting tutor Adrian Ingram and course leader Trefor Owen. Each tutor will offer

specific subjects which will be dealt with during the session, (see footnote), and

bearing in mind the subjects to be covered in each session, you may choose

your tutor. You may also ask questions!

The capacity of these Friday evening masterclasses is limited so we strongly

recommend that you book early and choose your tutor and subjects.

23

Footnote.

Trefor Owen will deal with: "The Art Of accompaniment" "The Maj7th

Arpeggio as an Improvisational Device" and "Improving Facility".

Adrian Ingram will deal with: "Extended Tonality in the Style of Wes

Montgomery" and "Chord Generation".

The Sunday masterclasses -10am to 12noon and 2pm to 4pm will be presented

by visiting tutor Phil Robson and Trefor Owen.

On Sunday the student groups will change tutors morning and afternoon.

IMPROVE YOUR JAZZ GUITAR SKILLS AT THIS GREAT VALUE

WEEKEND!

THE WHOLE WEEKEND

129. 120 Concessions. North Wales Jazz members 125.

LARRY CORYELL DAY

100. 95 Concessions and North Wales Jazz Members.

Call +44 (0)1745 812260 to enrol and for further info or see

www.northwalesjazz.org.uk

and download the enrolment form.

SPECIAL GUEST TUTOR LARRY CORYELL

http://www.larrycoryell.net/

GUEST TUTOR PHIL ROBSON

http://philrobson.net/

GUEST TUTOR ADRIAN INGRAM

http://adrianingram.com/ingramhome.htm

24

RESIDENT TUTOR TREFOR OWEN www.treforowen.com

Saturday evening concert (May 16th - 8.30pm) featuring the legendary

LARRY CORYELL,

PHIL ROBSON, ADRIAN INGRAM,

TREFOR OWEN and ANDY HULME.

with BILL COLEMAN (double bass) and DAVE HASSELL

(drums).

Wide choice of reasonably priced accommodation available in Wrexham and

the surrounding area.

Registered Charity No. 508519 President: Martin Taylor MBE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Howard Aldens Guitar Workshop

Californian Howard Alden is one of the best jazz guitarists working today. He learned his

craft under the legendary Howard Roberts, and his jaw-dropping fretwork has graced

everything from Hollywood soundtracks to duets with his mentor, seven-string pioneer

George Van Eps.

On Saturday 9th May 2015 at 2pm Howard

Alden is coming to the Yorkshire Music

School in Saltaire to run a

workshop/masterclass. It is an excellent

opportunity to study with someone with the

experience and ability of Howard and there

are still a few places left. The price is 20.

Phone 01274 595954 or email

info@ymss.co.uk for details and to secure

a place.

Yorkshire Music School, Victoria Road, Saltaire, Bradford BD18 3LA

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25

9. Sales

Please let me know as soon as items are sold to remove them from the list.

An important message to all contributors to the sales column.

Modern digital cameras take highly detailed pictures. This detail comes at a cost, namely

huge file size. If this newsletter becomes too big (approximately 6-7 Mb), some email services,

particularly academic institutions and businesses, will not deliver it.

If you want to include a picture of the sale item, or indeed item in our swap a lick column, then

the pictures need to be reduced in file size, preferably no more than 100KB per picture.

Hints. Try searching for optimising images for the web for help on this.

Crop the image view to show just the item.

I, unfortunately, dont have the time to spend optimising images for the newsletter. If they are

too big they risk getting left out.

Ian

Many guitars have been sold through our monthly sales listings. If an

item is sold, as a direct consequence of an ad being seen in the

newsletter, we, the committee, would be pleased to receive a small

contribution to HJGS funds.

In order to keep the content fresh, we have decided that all ads will run for

THREE editions and will be deleted unless specifically resent. All current

ads will be removed from next months newsletter unless we receive

notification from advertisers.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gibson ES150 Feb15

Gibson ES150 with P90 pickup, in original condition. 1650. Plays and sounds great.

Will come with a hiscox case.

26

DeArmond guitar pickup..160.00

Tel: Tom 07972580332.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carlton flight guitar case. (Gibson L5 size). 200 ono.

Evans amp AE 100. 1 x 8" - 550. In excellent condition with padded cover.

Evans 200 watt amp. I x 12" Eminence speaker - Teak cabinet with padded cover -

350

27

Contact Trefor Owen on

07423 016888

E-mail tojazzgtr@aol.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Feb15

Gibson custom shop Tal Farlow jazz guitar

(with custom shop case) for sale

If any one wishes more photos I have plenty - or telephone me on

07731681017

Sounds great / plays like butter (virtually unused) - a quality Gibson

custom shop guitar which retails for well over 4000.00.

I am prepared to let it go (I don't have the skill or talent to play jazz) for

the bargain price of 2500.00

Cheers

Graham White

Email chalky.white001@ntlworld.com

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Heres a message from Dan at Foulds Guitars

I'm running short of jazz guitars again! I've still got a bigger stock than most but

decent jazzers between 300 and 1500 I'm selling everything I get so if you

have any members that would like to move any unwanted guitars on we may be

able to help.

Of course I am happy to offer a deal on goods for members, they just need to

mention when enquiring.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Trades

Wants

1. small amp : Polytone (any model considered); Musicman RD50

(1x10 or 1x12)

2. Gibson Les Paul Custom, any period but preferably not a really

heavy one.

28

3. Telecaster Seymour Duncan neck (rhythm) pickup (any spec)

4. Fender Hot Rod Telecaster

If you have of know the whereabouts of any of the above please contact Adrian

Ingram adrian@jazzdawgs.co.uk

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Back to Contents

29

10. Charts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Back to Contents

30

11. The lighter side of Music

After all of the sweat and tears of practising/playing/hunting gigs we thought a

little humour may not come amiss. If you come across any joke, bon mot, cartoon,

story etc. which tickled your funny bone, then please send it in and share. Here are

this months offerings: -

********

Send us yours!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to Contents

31

12. Services

The Amp Shack

The Professional Tone Breakdown Service

Ph: +44 (0) 7716 460 163

Email: theampshack@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back to Contents

For all amp (valve and solid state) and

effect pedal repairs.

32

Huddersfield Jazz Guitar Society

Contact huddjazzguitsoc@gmail.com

If you don't want to continue receiving newsletters and notices then send an email

with the subject 'REMOVE' to huddjazzguitsoc@gmail.com

Cheers

Ian