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Any ill-informed modernist who regards 'trad' or 'Dixieland' jazz as a dull reminder of a stereotyped yesteryear for tired old has-beens, would have changed their views had they been fortunate enough be at Walmley Social club for the Sutton Coldfield's latest Wednesday night blast from the...

The Pedigree Jazz Band playing their 'Tribute to Trad' programme for SCTJC's Wednesday night gig at Walmley Social Club was true to its word in providing a tuneful trawl through the early post-war years of Kenny Ball, Chris Barber, Acker Bilk and their brethren. Sponsored by Marstons Brewery (...

Thank you again you musicians. I'm well pleased to see the Thread being used in such a practical way. With the Birmingham Jazz Festival coming up fast I would like to attract a wider audience, some of them telling us about the gigs they've attended, those they enjoyed most and why...whatever...

...Thanks for the tutorial Maurice but you lost me in the first paragraph...translating signs on paper into musical sounds is a mystery to me...

I'm most impressed my the knowledge and memories of you 'real' musical people: I'm afraid I don't know or recall most of the names you guys mention but I am very pleased ( and slightly surprised!) to have my comments receive the seal of approval from professionals. It keeps me writing the...

Jeff Barnhart...'American-of-many-parts' A rather different slant on jazz at Coventry's Jazz-a-matazz yesterday, but none the less enjoyable for that. Two reeds players, keyboards and drums with no trumpet, trombone, bass or banjo is not a line-up to impress the trad purists..but that instant...

Good to see some new faces last night at Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club's Wednesday night gig at Walmley Social Club. There was almost a hundred of us present to give local teenager Kiera (pictured above) a warm reception on her second visit as she takes the early steps towards what she hopes...

...thanks to you musical mates for your interest and kind comments...I have a compulsion to try to describe things so it's rewarding to hear that someone has read it !!!!! Re-Caledonia, I actually haven't a clue who wrote it...I just associate it with him...come to think of it I seem to recall...

Remember TW3? That Was The Week That Was? Millicent Martin singing the signature tune?...well, musically my week has been like that, a bit of a memorable one, too. Beginning with the marvellously versatile Kevan Grenfell with his Jazz Giants at Coventry's Jazz-a-matazz on Sunday (May 17)...

What a talent. What a reassuring message for British jazz. What a great night's entertainment when Matt Palmer's All-Stars featured 25-year-old BEN HOLDER as guest star at Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club in their weekly Wednesday gig at Walmley Social Club. Multi-award winning, Midland-based...

NEWFRONT LINE...SAME EXCITING SOUNDS NewOrleans Heat, one of the most popular and well-established bands onthe UK vintage jazz circuit has undergone significant changes in its front line in recent times but, as Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz regulars have discovered, the new look up front has not...

I agree about Pixie Lott..I thought she was really good...and that black guy (Porter is his name?) who wears a funny hat to match his beard...he sang one of our old songs superbly. Afterwards I asked myself whether there is another nation in the world whose wars could be defined by such music? I...

A Welcome Return for Local Girl, Kiera: 'My role model is Ella' Talented Walmley vocalist, Kiera Battersby, whose career aim is to model her singing on the late, great Ella Fitzgerald, is to make her second appearance at The Walmley Club on May 27. Kiera, 17, will join the Apex Jazz and...

...yes, Maurice...someone at the jazz club told me some time ago that Mike Burney had died...I remember him only as a great stalwart of the Birmingham Jazz Festival. Whenever you looked at the day's schedule he seemed to be on somewhere. I must have seen him several times but have no one great...

WEDNESDAY NIGHT FEVER..! It is always reassuring when younger generations appear on the vintage jazz scene either as participating musicians or appreciative members of the audience... and last night, at Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club's Wednesday night gig, we had a double dose of it. The band...

An evening for the 'Trad Jazz' purists at Walmley tomorrow night with Dave Rae's Levee Ramblers New Orleans Jazz Band(formed out of the embers of The Rae Brothers New Orleans Jazz Band following the retirement of founder member Mac Rae). The nucleus of the band remains the same with Dave Rae as...

TUNEFUL REMINDERS OF THE JAZZ LEGENDS Banjo/guitar specialist BRIAN MELLOR is such a familiar figure on stage at Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club that he must have an almost genetic 'feel' for the music that keeps the regulars happy....and that's not always as easy as it sounds. Birmingham's...

Thanks, guys...I was just testing to see if Billy Leroy was well known in early post-war dance band circles. I had never heard of him either. He sang mostly for an RAF dance orchestra in the 1940s, 50s, (but not Squadronaires), and that was his stage name. Fast forward 70 years and his...

...quite true, Eddie, and thanks for those lovely words. Getting better every day. Might be back in full flow over week-end. Meanwhile does the name BILLY LEROY mean anything to anyone from the 1940s/1950s ?

The Walmley Club's Jazz with Wide Horizons Kevin Grenfell and his Jazz Giants set off the April programme of Wednesday night jazz gigs, (presented by Sutton Coldfield Trad Jazz Club at the Walmley Club), with the anticipated blend of New Orleans ensemble playing and quality soloists with wider...