Newsletter April 2015

Hi Jazz Cats, for those of you that made it to our March event, thank you for coming along and supporting your Jazz Society. For those of you who stayed away, its just not cricket! Whatever you were doing, you would have had a better time watching the terrific crooner Grant Chilcott and  his trio: they were everything a good standards band should be and then some. Seriously, living in Blighty for two thirds of my life and seeing my national team get thumped by the Kiwi's and the Oz's, did teach me one thing: when it came down to Jazz or sport - Jazz always came  first. So I always go back to the more important things in life - Jazz! Grant did a great job of entertaining us, to quote members Dorothy & Norman: this is the sort of music we love! Non-members John and Rosie said that they had an excellent night, as well as several others who spoke to me at the end of the evening (in my mad rush to pack the music gear away before the 8.30 curfew). Thanks Grant Chilcott and his awesome band - you were great!

Our AGM was held on the 31st March at 7.30 pm. We welcomed on board two new committee members: Michelle Parish Crowfoot as publicity Officer and Rachel Skews. I have stayed on as president, Malcolm Claridge has been appointed as Vice President, Heather McBrydie as Membership Secretary, Tracy Hopewell as Treasurer, Viviane Woodd as Secretary and Maciek Hrybowicz continues as Web Master. Thank you to ex vice president Phillip Tinkler and to Alma Hooker Raffles whom resigned from committee duties.

Simon Hopewell
HJS President

Sun, 29th March

To start the evening off we will be hearing for the first time solo on our stage, the talented Mr Maciek Hrybowicz on guitar. Maciek, as well as being a great committee member and supporter of the Jazz society, is a fantastic musician in his own right who puts his life and soul in to every note and piece of music he plays. Those of you who have heard him perform outside of the Jazz Society will agree he truly is a musical asset to Hamilton and the Jazz Society. Fittingly for the weekend the ANZAC Centenary, we will be entertained by the BOOGIE WOOGIE GIRLS. If you like the Andrews Sisters and super tight harmonies, then hearing these three girls will make you extremely happy. Led by Corilin Steel, they will take you back to a time when an evening of swing, dance music would ensure a packed house as if the audience felt that it was their last chance to have fun. How did people do it in times of war…? God Bless all our service men and women of yesteryear and present day. You are true Heroes and Heroines. Come along and join us this ANZAC weekend.

From 5..0pm - 8.00pm
Door sales only.

Food served all day, tea & coffee and Well Stocked Bar

In May

Hamilton Founders Theatre will be visited by one of the great (if not the greatest) Jazz ensembles of all time from the United States:  The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra. This is the 80th anniversary year of this landmark band. the Hamilton Jazz Society Inc have been asked by the promoters Liberty Stage to let our members know about this once-in-a-lifetime event. This is definitely one not to miss - come along and see first hand the true Giants of Jazz.

The living embodiment of swing, one of the most elegant and irresistible sounds that ever shook the western world, The Legendary Count Basie Orchestra will bring their 80th Anniversary Tour to Australia and New Zealand in May 2015. Directed by veteran trumpeter Scotty Barnhart, the 18-piece Count Basie Orchestra features a peerless array of instrumentalists with combined credentials that have topped the upper echelons of the international jazz world for decades. From Billie Holiday to Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra to Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan to Ella Fitzgerald, the Count Basie Orchestra has provided the supremely distinctive sound and swing behind some of the greatest singers of the modern age. Simply put, the Count Basie Orchestra is the real deal, a who’s who of swing spanning generations maintaining the flame of one of the world's best-loved sounds. For Australian and New Zealand audiences, this 80th Anniversary Tour is a very special occasion and a rare chance to see a truly elite jazz ensemble staged in some of our most prestigious venues. Don't miss these historic concerts.

If you play a tune and a person don't tap their feet, don't play the tune - Count Basie