‘Jazz April’ – How to avoid being an April Fool

March 29, 2013April 3, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 19 Comments

Notwithstanding the obvious resemblance between these grizzled old guys, Jazz April is no joking matter. To avoid being an April Fool participate in as many Jazz April activities as you can. Remember to ‘like‘ and ‘share‘ this and any other Jazz April pages that you come across. Don’t monkey about; ape the trend-setters and brand your Face Book picture with a Jazz April badge like cousin Boris (left) and I (right) did. This is a month set aside to promote and honour Jazz and its practitioners. The best way of achieving this is by sharing our enjoyment with others. If they see and hear what we experience they will want to participate. Take the pledge and agree that you will visit as many Jazz events as possible during April. If that is difficult you should at least participate online.

I have posted some logos which you should share indiscriminately. If the internet slows down due to the volume of ‘shares‘ we will know that you have done your bit. Think of it as a ‘Wikileaks’ for music lovers. The world needs to know this secret.

There will be hundreds of Jazz April celebrations occurring world-wide and the events will culminate in UNESCO’s ‘International Jazz Day‘ which is April 30th 2013. The venue for the main Jazz Day event this year is Istanbul Turkey and Herbie Hancock is joined by a number of Jazz Luminaries like Hugh Masakela, Marcus Miller and Manu Katche. If your city does not have an event planned you could consider hosting one. If you do let me know and I will pass the information on to the Jazz Journalists Association.

In New Zealand the ‘Waiheke Jazz Festival’ and the ‘Tauranga Jazz Festival’ can be considered a good segue into Jazz April as they are both held over Easter weekend. Auckland has a number of Jazz April events occurring and there will be a satellite party celebration at the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) during April. Check out the CJC website as there is a good gig guide.

The best place to locate the logo badges and banners (twibbons) and to find out how best to participate, is to click on this link to the Jazz Journalists Associations Jazz April Website or the Jazz Journalist Jazz April Face Book page .

In Auckland the CJC (Creative Jazz Club) will be featuring some spectacular Jazz April Gigs and we will be making a presentation to a few deserving local musicians at a JJA Satellite Party (date to be announced shortly). The CJC line up so far is Nacey/Samsom/Haines (3rd April), Brian Smith Quartet (10th April), Kevin Field Trio (17th April) …more gigs to come. For those who missed last years satellite party at the CJC, Roger Manins was inducted as a ‘Jazz Hero‘ by the Jazz Journalists Association.

A highlight event will be the Nathan Haines ‘Vermillion Skies’ album Release on the 6th April at the ‘Q Theatre’, Queen Street, Auckland. This amazing album involves a number of our best-loved Jazz musicians and it will be a high point in the Auckland Jazz calendar. Don’t miss this event or forget to buy the album (available in download/CD/vinyl).

There will also be gigs at the ‘Ponsonby Social Club‘, the ‘Grand Central‘ (both in Ponsonby Road) and for experimental improvised music ‘The Wine Bar ‘Vitamin S‘ St Kevin’s Arcade, The Auckland Jazz and Blues Club (Tuesday evenings Pt Chevalier RSA), The ‘Titirangi Music Festival’ Titirangi Village (where the Alan Brown band is playing in the ‘Tool Room” on Friday the 5th April@ 7: 30pm).

Jazz April is now a world-wide event and I know that NZ will not let the side down. My April posts will be profiled on the JJA Facebook page and or webpage. The choices Auckland is offering over April 2013 are many and varied. Locals have absolutely no excuse for not supporting Jazz this month, so see you all there.

John Fenton

JazzLocal32.com – Jazz Journalists Association member

The Auckland Jazz Orchestra @ CJC 20th June

July 3, 2012February 4, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 4 Comments

Steve Sheriff & Callum Passells (Altos)

I love Jazz big bands and couldn’t have been more pleased when Roger engaged the AJO to play on awards night. It is more than possible that I had dropped a hint. Nothing underscores an occasion like a Jazz orchestra and having a 17 piece band in an intimate space is the best of listening experiences. Those surges of raw power always please, but it is something else that I look for. It is their collective agility , the tension and release and the quality of their ensemble playing. This is quickly revealed if the charts are well written, and they were.

People like to compare big bands and as a spectator sport it has some currency. I can’t help wondering however if eggs are always being compared with eggs. There are rehearsal bands like the Village Vanguard Orchestra (Thad Jones Big Band) who meet once a week (but with ever-changing personnel). Less common are the professional or semi professional units who get regular work and whose core personnel are less likely change (The WDR, Mingus Big Band, Roger Fox Big Band). Lastly there are all-star bands which come together for a recording, a gig, a concept or just for fun (Bob Beldens ‘Miles Espanol’ Jazz Orchestra, The Kenny Wheeler Big Band).

The AJO falls mostly into the first group but there is another dimension to what they do: they are a writing band and part of their reason for existence is to write charts and/or to create original arrangements. Quite a few in the band write and that gives the band an Auckland flavour. The compositions tell our city’s story. As a city we need to value them more and ensure that they get the work and the recognition they deserve. The City Council needs to have them on their radar and call on them for appropriate official functions? Knowing Jazz musicians pay packets, the public purse would be left largely intact if they did.

Mike Booth

The AJO is a mix of seasoned players and new talent and this gives them a certain flavour. With their unfamiliar charts they perform a high wire act and because of that there is a hint of risk; to pull this off and at the same time entertain, requires a deftness of touch. The AJO has this as the co-founders Tim Atkinson and Mike Booth manage to inspire and guide without stifling creativity.

During the night we heard tight ensemble playing, a number of nice solos (particularly from Mike Booth, Theo Clearwater, Steve Sherriff, Andrew Hall, Callum Passells, Jono Tan and Matt Steele). Vanessa McGowen was terrific on bass and her presence was felt in just the right way. Andrea Groenewald on guitar demonstrated her soloing and comping skills. The latter added just the right Freddie Green touch to the overall mix. Swinging a big band is not always easy but this band swung.

There were two sets and thirteen numbers – among them were ‘It doesn’t Snow There’ – Atkinson, ‘On the Water’ – Booth, ‘All the things you are‘ – Kern/Hammerstein, ‘Those Nights’ – Hall. I have included a You Tube clip of there AJO performing Tim Atkinson’s composition and arrangement of ‘It Doesn’t Snow There’ – see below.

The AJO’s personnel are: Mike Booth (lead trumpet, arranger, composer, co-founder), Tim Atkinson (conductor, arranger, composer, co-founder)

Tim Atkinson

Altos; Steve Sheriff, Callum Passells – Tenors; Andrew Hall, Teo Clearwater – Baritone; Andrew Baker – Trumpets; Matthew Verrill, Mike Booth, Jo Spiers, Oliver Furneaux – Trombones; Mike Young, Mike Ashton, Jono Tan, Darrell Farley – Guitar; Andrea Groenewald – Piano; Matt Steele – Bass; Vanessa McGowen – Drums; Cameron Sangster

The AJO on awards night

Vanessa McGowan

AJO @ JJA Awards celebration

June 21, 2012February 4, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / Leave a comment

Front line of the AJO

Stop Press: Tonight Auckland held its inaugural Jazz Journalists Association Awards Satellite Party. The Creative Jazz Club of Aotearoa (CJC) hosted the event and the club was packed to capacity. The CJC is the first Jazz club in the world to see the moon as there is nothing much between the club door and the International Date Line except ocean. In spite of the wet outside it soon became apparent that the Auckland Jazz community was going to turn up in force. No Jazz lover in their right mind would let an opportunity like this slip away and the club was soon filled up with a seething mass of Jazz fans; check to jowl with the who’s who of Auckland Jazz musicians.

Brian Smith & Roger Manins

During the evening Roger Manins was awarded the JJA Jazz Hero Award and this met with strong approval from the audience. Roger has been a popular choice as his work in promoting Jazz, teaching, mentoring and acting as programme director for the CJC have endeared him to everyone. Then there is his musicianship which astonishes and inspires, while setting the bar high. The work that Roger, Caroline and Ben do in running the CJC should not be overestimated. Having Roger in town and having a club like the CJC has been a game changer. More and more students are emerging from the Jazz schools and they need clubs like this to play in. Being tested is part of the journey.

Jazz musicians are the alchemists of the modern age: they forge a raw beauty out of the world about us. Musicians like Roger are the keepers of the magic.

This was a night of magic from start to finish and the Auckland Jazz Orchestra were superb. This nimble hard-swinging seventeen piece orchestra played its heart out and the audience never stopped smiling or tapping their feet. Sitting in front of a Jazz orchestra and feeling that surge of power is like nothing else I know. Tonight Auckland felt like the luckiest city on the planet.

Credit must go to the JJA who have been incredibly supportive throughout. Auckland is proud to have hosted its first JJA Jazz Awards Satellite Party and this is only the beginning.

The party continued long after the AJO had packed up and before long a Jam session was in full swing. To have Roger Manins (tenor), P J Koopman (guitar) and Brian Smith (tenor) on the band stand together was the icing on the cake. One by one the students got up to join them. Some looked nervous but they got up anyway. It is nights like this that guarantee the viability of this music we love.

A full review will follow soon – thanks to Jenny and Deepak for assisting.

The AJO

Callum Passells

Matt Steele

John & Roger (centre)

JJA Jazz Awards Satellite Party in Auckland

June 10, 2012February 4, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 1 Comment

Press release: Wed 6th June 2012

Creative Jazz Cub & Auckland Jazz Orchestra presents the

JJA Jazz Awards Satellite Party

The 16th Annual Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards is an international black tie event held at the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York on Wednesday 20th June and features hundreds of musicians, jazz journalists, educators and industry associates.

Auckland musician/saxophonist Roger Manins has been awarded a Jazz Hero Award by JJA, so to celebrate and honour New Zealand’s jazz heroes, Auckland’s Creative Jazz Club (CJC) will be hosting the world’s first 2012 Awards Satellite Party at the Britomart’s Basement Bar also on Wednesday 20th June. The Awards will feature music by the Auckland Jazz Orchestra (AJO) and as New Zealand will be acknowledged at the New York Awards event, willing musicians and Jazz fans should arrive early for photographs – to be posted on the Jazz Journalists Associations Awards official web sites. Don’t miss one of the biggest events on the Jazz calendar!

Wednesday 20 June – Basement Bar, AUCKLAND

Home of the Creative Jazz Club, 1885, Galway St Central, BRITOMART

8pm, Tickets GA $10, CJC members & students $7, student members $5

http://www.jjajazzawards.org, www.rogermanins.com, www.creativejazzclub.co.nz

CJC contacts – caroline@creativejazzclub.co.nz roger@creativejazzclub.co.nz John Fenton blogsite – Jazz Local 32 http://www.jon4jaz.wordpress.com

Publicity – Leesa Tilley / publicity-machine@clear.net.nz / phone 09 3766 868

The Jazz Journalists Association (JJA) honours excellence in jazz music, recordings, presentation and journalism. The 2012 Jazz Awards has 39 categories of excellence including Lifetime Achievement and Best of the Year Awards for musicians, presenters, recordings, photos, journalists, publications, blogs and websites. A star-studded coterie of musicians, journalists and music-world movers and shakers will be honoured in jazz’s only independent, international, culture-and-community-wide awards celebration.

Creative Jazz Club (CJC) was set up two years ago by musicians Carolina Moon, Roger Manins and broadcaster Mark Robinson. Webmaster Ben McNichol and journalist John Fenton complete the team. Now a world-class jazz club, CJC fosters and promotes the development of Auckland’s creative jazz scene by providing musicians with a dedicated performance space, nurturing emerging artists, and the programming of innovative local, national and international talent in its weekly Wednesday club night. Vocalist and composer Carolina Moon – who is currently touring her medieval world music fusion Mother Tongue in-between teaching jazz vocals at the University of Auckland – said “I was motivated to start CJC primarily because there was nowhere for us to play our music, and I thought well there must be other people in the same boat too. When we first opened, one of NZ’s landmark jazz musicians said to me – ‘now I have something to practice for’ – and gee I just wanted to cry. So we started out at Cafe 121, Ponsonby Rd and over that first year we saw the creative scene really start to grow as it provided bands with an outlet for their creative projects – AND an audience which wants to listen and be part of it.”

Roger Manins won the Australian National Jazz Awards for saxophone in 2002 and this month, will receive a JJA Jazz Hero Award as international recognition of his outstanding musicianship and services to the community and education. Roger was born in Waiuku and currently teaches at the University of Auckland between touring nationally and internationally with various groups such as the Roger Manins Trio/Quartet, Hip Flask, Carolina Moon, Resonator, Manins Muller featuring Mike Nock plus a series of Trans-Tasman collaborations. Roger has released 3 CDs – Hip Flask, Trio and Latitude – and is recorded on more than 30 jazz albums with some of Australasia’s leading artists.

“an outstandingly gifted musician with a warmly passionate sound, remarkable instrumental ability and total
musical integrity” – Mike Nock

“one of the best newly issued hard bop recordings I’ve heard in quite some time. Manins sounds incredible throughout, but is particularly exceptional on Monk’s Well You Needn’t. Manins et al. aren’t merely recreating—they’re creating new music by taking Hard Bop elements to new places” – Slim’s Spins, Cadence Magazine, USA (March 2012)

http://www.jjajazzawards.org http://www.rogermanins.com http://www.creativejazzclub.co.nz CJC contacts – caroline@creativejazzclub.co.nz / roger@creativejazzclub.co.nz

John Fenton blogsite – Jazz Local 32 – http://www.jon4jaz.wordpress.com (Jazz Journalists Association).

Publicity – Leesa Tilley / publicity-machine@clear.net.nz / phone 09 3766 868

Auckland Jazz Hero – Roger Manins – World Jazz Day 30th April

April 30, 2012February 4, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 3 Comments

Auckland Celebrates World Jazz Day

The 30th of April 2012 has recently been designated World Jazz Day by UNESCO. This significant recognition of our music is great and we will be celebrating this in Auckland along with the worldwide Jazz Community.

The Jazz Journalists Association is actively celebrating this world event and as part of their programme, members have been asked to nominate a Local Jazz Hero. To follow events go to www.jjajazzawards.org/. Here in Auckland, New Zealand we have nominated Saxophonist, Jazz educator Roger Manins as our first Jazz Hero. Roger is also the programme director and co-founder of the not-for-profit ‘CJC ‘Creative Jazz Club of Aotearoa’ (along with his wife Carolina Moon and friend Ben McNicoll).

Roger has been nominated for a number of reasons. He is certainly one of New Zealand’s (and indeed Australasia’s) best tenor players and as such he is an inspiration to up and coming Jazz Musicians. Of equal importance though is his role as an educator and enabler. Roger lived and worked extensively in Australia for 10 years (he also lived in New York for 2 years), and even though he returned to NZ in 2004 he is still very much in demand across the Tasman, gigging and touring at regular intervals.

Roger teaches at the Auckland University School Of Music Jazz Programme. Anyone who listens to Roger will quickly identify him as a person with killer chops, but he also has the ability to tell a compelling story on his horn.

“He is an outstandingly gifted musician with a warmly passionate sound, remarkable instrumental ability and total musical integrity”. Mike Nock

This story telling in almost any given context draws listeners to him again and again – a skill that was very evident in the likes of Lester Young or Dexter Gordon, but which is not always evident in modern players. Roger can play convincingly in any Jazz genre from free through post bop to mainstream traditional.

Roger is often generous with his time when it comes to nurturing up-and-comers. He will encourage and push those who he thinks need that, while gently insisting that they meet the required standard. With lots of younger players coming out of the two local Jazz Schools, it is essential that they get this real-world feedback in a way that keeps them challenged but not discouraged.

Having a world-class venue is part of this mix and the CJC is just that. Its vision is to stimulate and encourage the development of excellence in the creative improvised / jazz scene, and as programme director, Roger ensures that the diversity of the music scene is represented. The gigs are varied every week and feature prominent ex-pat Kiwis and international artists as well as national and local talents. It is Roger’s connections with the wider scene and the esteem in which musicians hold him that helps to make this happen.

Finally, I want to mention his very Kiwi sense of humour, which is evident both on and off the bandstand. He often slips in sly jokes or asides when introducing acts and his You Tube videos on ‘How to Play Smooth Jazz’ are simply hilarious. These have a cult following in NZ and Australia and the tongue in cheek delivery is so convincing that pupils of smooth jazz sometimes contact him to seek instruction without realising that it is all a delicious joke.

Roger is in demand in both Australia and New Zealand as a tenor player, multi reeds and winds player. He has recorded on many albums as an essential sideman and also as leader. He is married to fellow musician Carolina Moon (Manins) and has a daughter Milli.

His discography and website is: www.rogermanins.com

Selected Discography

Personal Recordings

Trio – Rattle Records 2010

Latitude – Roger Manins featuring Bernie McGann / Rufus Records (Aus) 2010

Roger Manins – Hip Flask Jazzgroove (Aus) 2002 / Ode Records (NZ) 2005

Recordings as Sideman

Andrew Dickerson Quintet – Weaver of Dreams

Resonator – Reuben Bradley

Carolina Moon – Mother Tongue

Phil Broadhurst – Delayed Reaction

Tom Dennison – Zoo

Solar – Bernie McGann Quintet featuring Roger Manins

James Muller Quartet -Thrum

Jazzgroove Mothership Orchestra with Florian Ross – Dreamwheel Ashley Turner – Beautiful Open Spaces

Mike Nock’s Big Small Band – Live

Carolina Moon – East of the Sun

Andrew Atwill – 3 Sides of the Same Coin

Leonie Cohen Plus – Jerusalem

Simon Sweeney – Emerald CityBlues

Vaughn Roberts – Grrreat Stuff

Paul Dyne – Shelter of the Ti Tree

Jann Rutherford – The Scented Garden

Julie Mason – 12 O’ Clock Tales

Steve Hunter – Condition Human

Karen Hunter- Rubble

D Dub- Awake at Dawn

Trans Tasman – a journey into New Zealand music compilation CD

Pending Release, Manins/Muller/Nock/Bradley

John Fenton

Jazz Journalists Association / Jazz Local 32 (Blog)

Dan Kennedy Quintet @ CJC – JJA Jazz Week Blogathon entry

April 14, 2012February 4, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / Leave a comment

Dan Kennedy

Greetings to the world Jazz community on USA Jazz week from Auckland New Zealand,

This is snapshot of a gig held at the CJC Jazz club in Auckland just over a week ago

I have known Dan Kennedy for some time now and I have always enjoyed his propulsive energetic drumming. He has played at the CJC on a number of occasions and most often as drummer for the late night jam sessions. Dan is popular on the New Zealand scene and he has played beside some prestigious visiting artists and top flight locals. On this night he brought his own quintet to the CJC for a gig, where they entertained the audience with a mix of originals and lessor known but intriguing Jazz tunes by artists like Chris Potter and Dave Douglas.

I like to see a quintet playing well-arranged heads and this band had put together a number of well crafted vehicles. There were two numbers composed by Dan (leader and drummer), but the majority of the originals were composed and arranged by Finn Scholes (trumpet). This was a varied and original program and it created nice contrasts. They are a relatively young band with the oldest member being Cam Allen at 32 years.

Cam and Finn

Finn Scholes & Andy Smith

Cam Allen (Tenor) is an interesting musician, having played in New York and at other offshore locations. His maturity of style was evident from the start and like many of our good tenor men he does not hold back during solos. He can excoriate the audience or woo them with a set of ballad phrases and he is obviously a good reader as his playing on the head and out-chorus is always tight.

Andy Smith (guitar) has experienced a steady rise in popularity during the last year and it is no wonder. His sound is pleasing and often rock inflected. While the lines are pure jazz he uses the vocabulary of his day and this is a common trend with many younger guitarists. Guitarists like Lage Lund or Mike Moreno are 100% Jazz but they are not afraid of taking a different route to reach their destination. Andy’s tenure in the Alan Brown band has done him no harm at all and a good way to sample his playing is to locate a copy of Alan’s ‘Between the Spaces Album’ album. Read my review of this album). https://jon4jaz.wordpress.com/2011/10/09/alan-brown-between-the-spaces-cjc/

I knew who Finn Scholes (trumpet) was, but I had not previously heard him play. I am pleased that this omission has been remedied. He has a commanding presence on the band-stand and he can throw in the odd valve slur and muted growl when required. I hope that he comes down to club again as I am keen to hear more of him.

The electric bass was played by Cass Mitchell and she showed her chops and more importantly her good taste as she played through the sets. While she did not do too many solo’s, she never-the-less delivered the bass lines like a veteran. Electric bass players are often tempted to use ‘loud’ as their default volume level but Cass stayed exactly where she should be in the mix. At times it was hard to believe that she was not playing an upright bass so smooth were her lines.

Dan told the obligatory funny stories from the bandstand and his account of how he came to write ‘The Bouncer’ was a classic. “I often struggle to write tunes quickly” said Dan, “but after being beaten up by a night club bouncer for no good reason I managed to write this peaceful ballad in no time flat, go figure”.

Cass Mitchel

I also liked ‘Awakening’ by Andy, ‘Pleasure Arp’ by Finn (“I made him change the title just before the gig”, explained Dan, “because the original sounded too bloody soppy”). The one genuine standard was ‘Oliloqui Valley’ by Herbie Hancock. They certainly did this tune justice and it fitted in mid-set as if it had always belonged there. Tune placement is important if the flow of a gig is to be maintained. It was Finn Scholes tune “Fast Swing’ that had me on the edge of my seat. To say that they stretched out and blew hard would be an understatement. Dan is soon to head to Australia and we wish him well (a little begrudgingly). We wish he would stay, but that is how it works between us and Australia. We loan them some of our best musicians and they do well there; only to return home and dazzle us at regular intervals. The stolen generation I call them. but they invariably make us proud.

The Dan Kennedy Band are: Dan Kennedy (drums), Finn Scholes (trumpet), Cam Allen (tenor saxophone), Andy Smith (guitar), Cass Mitchell (electric bass). The gig took place at the CJC Jazz club on Wednesday 4th April 2012. To connect with the CJC gigs guide http://www.creativejazzclub.co.nz/

Important Note: This post is to feed into the Jazz Journalists Association 2012 Awards program. Auckland is now part of a world-wide ‘blogathon’ occurring this week. The program kick’s off today because it is the start of USA Mayoral designated Jazz Week. Please visit the website of the JJA Awards Page and view the ongoing activities. On the UNESCO designated World Jazz Day (which is the 30th April), we will be announcing the Jazz Heroes candidates from around the world.

NZ will be featured and I can’t praise the JJA highly enough for making a real effort to include Auckland and New Zealand in its scheduled events. As a professional member I find the organisation to be helpful and incredibly supportive of what we do. This is just the beginning Jazzers, as the world-wide outreach (connecting us to New York and them-to-us) can only get better as technology assists us in reducing the tyranny of distance.

The judging panel has also been meeting via a closed group FB page and the nominees for best artists are now posted on the Awards Page. Along with other professional members I will be part of the final judging panel that determines the category winners. That will be announced at a party which is to be held at a top venue in New York. The good news for us is that Auckland Jazz fans will be participating through a Satellite Party.

That will be held in June and the details will be circulated through the CJC Jazz Club and the Jazz Journalists Association Awards page. If you look through the Jazz Photography page you will notice a pic of our own Thomas Botting glancing lovingly at the neck of his bass. I have also submitted a short You Tube doco about 3 nights at the CJC Jazz club. I will post it at the end of this blog but do visit the JJA site over the next few months:

. Jazz Journalists Association Announces Nominees for 16th Annual JJA Jazz Awards (theurbanflux.com)

http://news.jazzjournalists.org/jazz_day_2012/jja-blogathon-jazz-in-your-community/

Touching greatness: ‘Jazz Life’ Photography

July 16, 2011February 4, 2013 / JazzLocal32.com / 4 Comments

When a musician reaches higher than other mortals to give us a glimpse of an unknown truth, we marvel at the invention and the daring. It is human to seek connection with greatness because we want to experience that sound again; weighing up what we have witnessed and desiring to understand it better. In the hands of the most gifted practitioners of the Jazz arts this connection can be made through photography, painting or the print media. If the ink, paint or emulsion is spilt for the sake of it then the magic is not communicated, but if the photographer is William Claxton and the wordsmith is Joachim Berendt then we are deeply enriched. In 1960 Claxton and Berendt undertook a massive road journey in a Cadillac; traveling the highways of America and capturing the ‘Jazz Life‘. Berendt is a respected musicologist and between them they recorded something else; an unvarnished glimpse into the America of the time. This is Americana in print and it gives a deep context to the music.

When viewing Claxton photographs we feel that we can almost touch the soul of the artist and while some of the portraits are deliberately posed they still convey the deepest sense of casual intimacy. This is the very essence of greatness that we have been seeking and we feel lucky to have these images, this music and these stories in our lives. It makes us part of the Jazz Life; insiders.

This is a truly great book in all senses of the word. It stands knee-high in its slipcase and weighs enough to have been the subject of warnings by physiotherapists. Once it has been safely transported home (using a heavy haulage transporter) and the (momentary) feelings of guilt at outlaying so much on one book have been overcome, get a friend to help you lift it onto the table.

The joy then unfolds page by wonderful page; touching greatness through the eyes of William Claxton.

Disclaimer: I certainly did not outlay the $1,500 per copy that the TASCHEN collectors edition sells for at Amazon, but I refuse to say what I actually paid on the grounds that could get me into trouble at home if I did.