NEW RELEASES Including two by bands new to P.E.K. - PKCD-280 The Pendle Jazzmen “At The Village Inn”
PKCD-281 Harlem Hot Stompers “Senior Moments”
PKCD-282 The Bob Barton Trio “Hot Buttered Fingers”
PKCD-283 Old Fashioned Love Band “Rhythm And Romance” (Further details of these albums are given on the "New Releases" Page)
NEW ORLEANS DISASTER APPEAL In the last Newsletter I wrote about the Hurricane Katrina disaster which had caused such devastation in New Orleans. At the time of writing I knew of no organisation set up to collect and distribute donations and give the maximum help to musicians in New Orleans who, in many cases, had lost everything - their homes, their livelihoods and perhaps most heartbreaking, their musical instruments. So I suggested you could send donations to me and I would forward them on your behalf. A couple of days after writing the Newsletter I learned about a UK-based charity called NOMAF (New Orleans Musicians Appeal Fund) based in Hampshire and with Chris Walker, Tim Eyles and Paul McKenna as trustees. Accordingly I forwarded your donations to NOMAF. The total amount which I sent to NOMAF on your behalf was £770, plus my own personal donation. You can see a list of donations received (and payments made) on the NOMAF website - www.NOMAF.org.
I thank all of you who made donations for your great generosity.
CDs AREN’T FRISBIES YOU KNOW!
I’ll preface this piece with an apology to the vast majority of you who look after your CDs properly. This is a plea to the minority of fans who still believe the myth, put about years ago, that CDs are indestructible - they’re not.
CDs need careful handling - at least as carefully as we used to treat our LPs in times gone by. Ideally you should handle CDs only by the edge and never touch the playing surface. They should only ever be in one of two places - either in the jewel case, or playing in a CD player. They should never be left lying about waiting to be used as a drinks coaster! Remember the laser which reads the CD does so from underneath the disc, so scratches, finger marks or marmalade (it happens!) on the bottom face of the disc will affect its playability.
I recently had a CD returned because it would no longer play properly, which looked as if it had been used by the children as a frisby and then buried in the garden by the dog! No wonder the poor thing couldn’t be played.
Of course I am always happy to exchange a genuinely faulty CD, but it’s much better for everyone if the fault isn’t caused by the user.
PLEASE COMPLETE ORDER FORMS IN FULL
I’m sorry but this is another little nag, this time directed at a handful of customers who, for whatever reasons, do not correctly fill in all the details on their CD order forms. I had an order recently where the customer had filled in the details of the CDs he wanted, but that was it! No name, no phone number, no date, not even the address! Fortunately his name was on the cheque and his details are on my data-base so I was able to send his order, but it’s very time-wasting to have to go searching for these details.
So please check your order form and make sure it’s complete and correct before sending it.
LOOKING AHEAD
There are several CDs in production including the new one from The Charleston Chasers, and Mike Lovell’s Jazz Allstars featuring Keith Nichols, Norman Field and Nick Ward, both of which will be ready quite soon.
The signs are that the Yellow Dog recording at Bude will result in a CD - I hope so, it was a great session.
I’ve just returned from an enjoyable weekend at Lee Bay where I recorded Colin Kingwell’s Jazz Bandits, The Delta Jazz Band with Colin Bowden and Norman Thatcher’s Band. It’s too soon to say if there willl be CDs from any of these but I’m hopeful.
By the time you read this I will have recorded a fund-rasing session at Lincoln featuring Spicy Advice, Mick Burns’ Louisiana Shakers and The Oriole Brass Band. If successful, CDs will be sold to raise funds for New Orleans musicians.
Plans are in hand to record The Wabash Jazzmen, The Unity Stompers and The Okeh Classic Jazz Allstars early in the New Year. So plenty of new CDs in 2006.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy and jazzy New Year.
