News Archive
Billy
Bids Farewell To Leeds Jazz!!
Entertainment
Licensing Update!
Spotify-ing
A Loophole....!
World
Sanguine Report!
Hysteria,
Fear & Live Music!
More
Live Music Legislation!
More
Musical Marginalisation!
A
Little Colour In This Economic Gloom!
Who
Can Release Jenkins' Music!?!
The
JAZZ
CIRCUS Comes To Town!
Kidsamonium
Concert Cancel Conundrum!
Resonance
Radio Documentary!
Whither
The Composer?!?
Interesting
YouTube Videos Found!
An
Inspired 'Here Is The Blues!' Review!
BBC
Apologise To Billy!
BBC
Censor 'Songs of Praise'!
Songs
of Praise Live! CD Now Available!
Billy Bids Farewell To
Leeds Jazz!!
Billy brought The Fun Horns
of Berlin to Leeds in 1996 - seen here at the Wiesen
Jazz Festival, Austria two
years earlier.
©Helmut Reidl
All roads (well, in Billy's
case, the A206, A2203, A406, M11, A14, A64, A6120, A58 and B6159....) led
to Leeds on the 24th October as Mr Jenkins performed a solo set as part
of a week long celebration of Leeds Jazz 25th anniversary.
Sensationally, having performed
for them a dozen or so times over the last twenty two years, this was
the last time Billy will ever play for Leeds Jazz - for, after a quarter
of a century of marvellous music making, the promotion is winding down!
Read the full story here.
A marvellous night of celebration
was held amongst friends both on and off the stage. Apart from the usual
'expect the unexpected' solo musings of Jenkins, Jan and Stefan Kopinksi
(together with Led BId drummer Mark Holub) offered their full on power
sounds - and the dulcet duo of the divine Ms Christine Tobin, accompanied
by glorious guitarist Phil Robson, made it a night to cherish!
The Leeds Jazz site has a
complete archive of all the 350 or so concerts they've put on - see the
list of Billy shows, along with fascinating PR flyers down the years here
and scrolling down.
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Entertainment Licensing
Update!
This single guitarist needs
a license to strum.
300 screaming, foot stamping
football fans don't....
©Olivia Caussanel
Under the 2003 Licensing
Act, a performance by one musician in a bar, restaurant, school or hospital
not licensed for live music could lead to a criminal prosecution of those
organising the event. Even a piano may count as a licensable 'entertainment
facility'.
By contrast, amplified big
screen broadcast entertainment is exempt. The government says the Act is
necessary to control noise nuisance, crime, disorder and public safety,
even though other laws already deal with those risks. Musicians warned
the Act would harm small events.
About 50% of bars and 75%
of restaurants have no live music permission. Obtaining permission for
the mildest live music remains costly and time-consuming. In May, the Culture,
Media and Sport Committee recommended exemptions for venues up to 200 capacity
and for unamplified performance by one or two musicians. The government
said no. But those exemptions would restore some fairness in the regulation
of live music and encourage grassroots venues..........
Tireless campaigner Hamish
Birchall sends the following:
The
Number 10 live music petition calling on the Prime Minister to implement
new entertainment licensing exemptions for small gigs reached over 9,000
signatures in the first week of September.
Many
more signatures are needed if the petition is to make an impact on the
press and politicians. If you haven't already signed, please consider
signing and circulating the petition link.
Meanwhile,
there are increasing signs of desperation at DCMS.
On
the 14th August, The Publican magazine published an online article
headlined 'LGA forced to apologise over live music stats'. This highlighted
the LGA's retraction of their mistaken 80% live music venues claim, now
reduced to 55%.
Read
the story
here.
The
first reader to post a comment was one Adam Cooper:
'The
2007 report found that 76% of pubs and clubs have a licence allowing them
to stage live music, even though less than half (44% in 2004) historically
staged live music. Don't trust me, read the report'
This
comment, including a link to the 2007 British Market Research Board survey,
was clearly intended to give some comfort to the LGA. But who is Adam Cooper,
and how reliable is the 76% statistic?
It
turns out that Adam Cooper is Dr Adam C Cooper, Head of Research at DCMS.
I recognised the name from email correspondence we had last year over this
very BMRB survey - the one which headlined with the finding that there
had been a 5% fall in live gigs since the Licensing Act came into force.
But even when I disclosed his identity in a comment on The Publican article,
he did not confirm his job title.
He
defended his response, adding: 'I do work at DCMS, but nothing I say represents
the Department's official stance - I am acting only as an interested member
of the public.'
Once
again this raises questions about potential conflict with the Civil Service
Code of Conduct which centres on four principles: honesty, impartiality,
objectivity and integrity. This point was made in comments posted
by two other readers of The Publican article. Is it ethical for a senior
civil servant to post comments on a public article about government research
in which he is closely involved, without disclosing at the outset his close
involvement in that research? Was he authorised to do this by ministers?
Personally, I believe Dr Cooper is in breach of the code and I have made
a formal complaint to DCMS.
But
this doesn't mean that the 76% claim should be ignored. Dr Cooper
clearly believes it is a reliable figure. The first objection, however,
must be that the BMRB survey is two years out of date. Secondly, as I pointed
out in The Publican, more than half of interviewees knew little or nothing
about the legislation, which tends to undermine confidence in their knowlege
of the premises licence. The BMRB questionnaire did not ask whether
the interviewee was actually responsible for the licence. Indeed,
it found that about 40% interviewees were probably not working at their
venue in 2005 when old licences had to be converted to the new ones. A
further caveat is that the licensing arrangements in about 20% of all pubs
are handled centrally by the managing company. Lastly, even if a licence
has a live music permission, the survey did not look at licence conditions,
such as the restrictions on performer numbers and music genres found in
St Albans. If live music licence conditions are not implemented,
putting on live music remains illegal.
All
in all, then, the BMRB 76% does not look like a robust statistic. DCMS
could have established the percentage far more reliably by searching local
authority public licensing registers, as the St Albans group did. These
record not only entertainment permissions but also licence conditions.
So,
we're back with 55% as the best estimate for the overall proportion of
premises licensed to sell alcohol that are also licensed for live music.
This is derived from the more recent DCMS alcohol and entertainment statistics,
sourced from local authorities - although even this figure is about 18
months old.
SIGN THE PETITION HERE!
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Spotify-ing A Loophole....!
It's a jungle out there!
©Alice Lemmard
Now we know that Mr Jenkins
is
not exactly up there when it comes to cutting edge technology - but
is he alone in discovering the supposed 'listen only not downloadable'
Spotify
streaming music programme (also used by others) can be easily downloaded
to keep forever by simply inserting a mini-jack plug into the headphone
socket of your PC speakers and recording onto a CDR/cassette/ DAT/ or Mini-disc!?!
No wonder only 1 in 20 downloads
are paid for and even the venerable Andrew Lloyd Webber is rightly
concerned that 'online piracy will cause composers to lose their livelihoods'.
And that is why, with the
record industry dying, Billy has gone where the smart money is and
has gone one step on from the blues to conduct Humanist
funerals....
And it's not just composers
and musicians who are in effectively being rendered pointless. Spare a
thought for all the record labels, fast diminishing record retailers and
distributors......
Interesting and turbulent
times...!
EDITORS NOTE:
Please let billy.com
know if Mr Jenkins has got his MIDI leads in a twist unnecessarily......
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World Sanguine Report!
Scary gruff singer and composer
Andrew
Plummer invited Billy to play guitar on two track with his
World
Sanguine Report band.
The CD, 'Third One Rises'
has
just been released on the Gravid Hands label.
Plummer, recently noted as
‘one to look out for in 2009' in December's Jazzwise by Dan
Spicer and Selwyn Harris, forged together World Sanguine Report to render
his unique breed of 'snuff-jazz' (The Wire).
Featuring award winning,
innovative musicians from the London and Leeds New Music scenes, World
Sanguine Report form a frightening and formidable ensemble: strength and
beauty, heavy as lead. Plummer's music reinterprets musical genre through
juxtaposition of compositional techniques, cut throat improvisations and
song.
Beginning with nods to strophic
forms and memorable melodies, the musicians systematically disassemble
structures, tonalities and rhythms throughout the course of the record,
as if holding back a tide of cacophony.
Drawing on a wealth of influences
(Nancarrow, Scelsci, Beefheart, Messiaen, Waits, Patton to name a few)
as a vehicle for Plummer's "sonorous vocals and brooding performance",
the result is a violent and beautiful journey, capturing "the despondency
and antagonism of the most disaffected and alienated elements of Western
counter-culture".
'Third One Rises'
album personnel:
James Allsopp - reeds
Alex Bonney - trumpet
Matthew Bourne - piano and
gongs
Tom Greenhalgh - drums
Dave Kane - bass
Andrew Plummer - vocals
and elec. guitar
With special guests:
Helen Evora - vocals
Billy Jenkins - elec. guitar
Jason White - violin
Enter the frightening world
of Plummer at www.myspace.com/gravidhands
or
andrewplummer.co.uk
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Hysteria, Fear & Live
Music!
Bunkum!
©Werner Maresch
A fascinating urban myth
has exploded on the internet. A petition was recently placed
on the official Prime Minister's website
urging the government 'not to introduce sound control devices as a legal
requirement in entertainment venues'.
It is one of the top five
most popular open petitions.Yet it is completely unfounded.
This from the genius Musician
Union consultant, lobbyist and percussionist Hamish Birchall, after
Mr Jenkins sought his advice:
"It
is a false alarm. I talked with the petitioner, Warren James,
then checked with the Department for Environment, the Health & Safety
Executive (HSE) who confirmed my suspicions. I put out a circular advising
that it was a false alarm on 14 January.
The
rumours on which the petition probably started (early 2008) coincide with
the end of a 2 year moratorium of enforcement of Noise at Work regulations
in the entertainment sector. But the HSE confirmed that even under
that legislation noise limiters cannot be enforced.
Here
is a copy of my 14 Jan circular:
How
badly does the government treat live music? Here's a quick test.
One of the two statements below is false. Which one?
1.
The government has made it a potential criminal offence merely to have
a piano in a bar for the public to play.
2.
The government is planning new law requiring all music venues to fit noise
limiting devices.
Answer:
Statement 2 (TRUE!!)
Yesterday
the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural affairs (DEFRA), responsible
for noise legislation, denied any such plan. And, a few days earlier,
when I spoke to the petitioner, Warren James, a professional guitarist
based in Coventry he was unable to recall where he had heard about this
new legislation. Now Warren has acknowledged that it is all bunkum. "
While musicians sympathise
with Warren's feeling about noise limiters, the petition text reveals a
fundamental lack of knowledge about existing law and as Billy sees it,
proof that musicians and music lovers are genuinely startled and concerned
about the absurd continuing attempts to stifle creativity and music making
by an ongoing conveyor belt of legislation - hence the impressive number
of names added.
There is also a second slightly
concerning issue. The Prime Minister's office obviously knows this is a
pointless adornment and no doubt will soon pour soothing PR oil 'allaying
fears' - whilst, on the same site, rejecting any petitions against
the expansion of Heathrow......!!
Seems democracy is being
eroded along with the music....
UPDATE:
The Prime Minister's Office
has responded to that petition and you can view
it here.
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More Live Music
Legislation!
Worn out boots and brain...
©Nick Corker
Mr Jenkins has just had a
most interesting chat with a very nice spokeslady from the Metropolitan
Police Clubs & Vice Unit (!) about the new Form 696 that
the police in London have introduced as a voluntary way of offsetting possible
violence at music events.
Although well intended, if
not a little 'tick box barking' ('state the type of music you play' is
just one racially contentious question they ask. They also want the names,
addresses and telephone numbers of any performer), Mr Jenkins naively thought
disquiet
about Form 696 had been blown out of proportion. Thankfully, musician and
political activist Hamish Birchall has bought the following to Billy's
attention:
"Perhaps
unsurprisingly, given the publicity, the Met has not given you the full
picture. Form 696 has been around for a while, and it is still voluntary
- in a minority of London councils. Over the past year 21 of the 33 councils
within Greater London have incorporated it as a potential licence condition
within their Statements of Licensing Policy, along with the Met's definition
of events to which the form applies:
'This definition relates to events that require a Promotion/Event Risk
Assessment Form 696. A significant event will be deemed to be: any occasion
in a premises licensed under the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003,
where there will be a live performer(s) – meaning musicians, DJs, MCs or
other artiste; that is promoted in some form by either the venue or an
outside promoter; where entry is either free, by invitation, pay on the
door or by ticket.'
See: http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/moderngov/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=6464
(search within the document for '696')
That is a very broad definition. It could apply to a harpist in an empty
hotel lobby. There is absolutely no indication that only large problem
venues are in the frame. If the intention was to use it for large
nightclubs where there have been serious problems, why is that not clear
in the definition of a significant event?
The police do not need 696 or indeed the Licensing Act to intervene at
a venue where they believe there may be a breach of the peace. For
a long time now the police have had that power under separate legislation.
Where a council makes completion of 696 a licence condition it becomes
a criminal offence not to comply. Max penalty: £20,000 fine and six
months inside. You may be confident that the police and local authorities
will only ever use such power proportionately. I would not share that confidence
and I believe the campaign to scrap Form 696 as currently implemented is
fully justified.
Many thanks Hamish, for once
again unearthing yet another unsettling complexity for live music - not
just for London, but something that could spread throughout all English
local authorities!
We at billy.com urge
you to sign the petition started on the Prime Minister's website by musician
Jon
McClure urging the scrapping of Form 696!
Put you name to the list
here!
The 2003 Entertainment Licensing
Act...... the implosion of recorded music sales.... the 2007 smoking ban........the
2008 EU legislation that forbids noise over 85 decibels in the workplace
which is playing havoc with the classical music world.....mobile phone
intrustion during concerts.....the constant ebb and flow of folks popping
out for a cigarette.....WHAT HAVE MUSICIANS DONE TO DESERVE ALL THIS!?!
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More Musical Marginalisation!
Jenkins challenges anyone
to dare to leave the room.....
©Olivia Caussanel
A disturbing and unsettling
new social practice is occurring in pubs and clubs throughout England -
disturbing for those who like their live music and unsettling for the musician.
For although the smoking
ban means a musician can return home with smoke free clothes, the cost
is yet further erosion of the power of music.
We've already had the 2003
Entertainment Licensing Act closing live music premises then the smoking
ban in 2007 creating further business casualties.
Ignore the complete implosion
of the recorded music industry, or the 2008 EU legislation that forbids
noise over 85 decibels in the workplace which is playing havoc with the
classical music world - the issue here is aimed at the grass roots performer.
We're not even talking about
the guaranteed mobile phone intrusion.....
Now, at any venue that does
not have designated seating, there is a constant ebb and flow of folks
popping out for a cigarette.
'This
not only causes distraction for the focused listener', says guitarist Billy
Jenkins, who has been a bandleader and performer for over thirty five
years, 'it erodes the confidence of the performer.'
'Is someone
leaving because they hate the music? What have we done to upset them? Why
are they walking out? They would rather have a fag then respect the fact
we've travelled hours to play for them and have hours to get home.....all
these thoughts go through one's mind. I've seen troops or four or five
people walk past the sight lines of keen music fans past the front of the
stage. Bang goes any empathy you've built with those in the room.'
Something to seriously ponder
when you have your next cigarette......
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A Little Colour In This
Economic Gloom!
Size:78cm x93cm
© Russell West Fine Art
Limited
A fine oil on wire board
work by Margate based artist Russell West to brighten the gloom
surrounding the world's financial markets. Mr West has many striking
works in this style and is represented by the Woolff Gallery.
But why is this being displayed
at billy.com!?
Because Mr West was so inspired
by the performance of Billy and the Songs of Praise ensemble at
the 2007 Margate Jazz Festival, he contacted the bandleader and
asked permission (duly granted) to use one of Jenkin's song titles for
the title of this joyous painting.
So we at billy.com
are proud to not only laud the work of such a fine artist, but to show
off the painting entitled 'Jazz had a baby, They called it avant-garde'
!
You can view more of Russell
West's wonderful paintings and sculptures at www.russellwestfineart.co.uk.
OH YEAH!!
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Who Can Release Jenkins'
Music!?!
©2006 Helmut Reidl
Whilst Billy Jenkins had
his Songs of Praise musicians on call for the 50th year 'forward looking
retrospective' tour dates, he took them into Gary Brady's Escapade Studios
to record I AM A MAN FROM LEWISHAM.
I AM A MAN FROM LEWISHAM
probably completes his aural impressions of his SE London patch which covers:
SOUNDS LIKE BROMLEY
(Plymouth Sounds 1982); GREENWICH (Wood Wharf Records 1985); STILL
SOUND LIKE BROMLEY (Babel 1997); SUBURBIA (Babel 1999) and the
as yet unreleased THE SEMI DETACHED SUBURBAN HOME – MUISC FOR LOW STRUNG
GUITAR (1994).
'...LEWISHAM' features
the young award winning alto saxophonist Nathaniel Facey, together
with Dylan Bates – violin & pocket cornet; Gail Brand
– trombone; Oren Marshall – tuba; and avant rock legend Charles
Hayward – drum kit, percussion, melodica......
Plus Carol Grimes,
Ayanna Witter-Johnson & Merlin Hayward – backing vocals; Dave Ramm
– organ; Jim Howard – trumpet &Charlie Hart – violin...
Plus a 15 strong three
generation VOGC Junior League Choir....!
Track listing is
1. I Am A Man From Lewisham
2. On (Catford) Broadway
3. Francis Drake Bowls Club
4. Deptford Market
5. Church of the Ford Transit
Mini Bus
6. Terraced Fast Food
7. Clock Tower of Power
8. Throw Them Blues In The
Recycling Bin
But Who Will Ever Hear It?
With the economic climate what it is and
the social trend for half listening to music through low quality downloads
rendering 'old school' resonators like Jenkins virtually pointless - are
there any pathfinders brave enough to collaborate with Mr Jenkins on a
release!?!
SERIOUSLY INTERESTED
PARTIES SHOULD GET IN TOUCH WITH THE BILLY OFFICE IMMEDIATELY!
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The JAZZ CIRCUS
Comes To Town!
Trumbling, rolling, bouncing
- Jazz Circus!
©Miles Dell
Beat poet, polemic and performance
activist Jazzman John Clarke can be seen in the above photograph
hiding second from the left, as he proudly presents Jazz Circus
- a freewheeling extreme freefall improvising unit featuring (from left
to right) drummer Mel Wright, double bassist Charlie Hart,
our very own Billy Jenkins and saxophonist Jimmy Beckley.
Their CD 'What Jazz Can
Do For Your LIfe' (Waterline Music Splash 13) was launched at a jam
packed (of course!) Jam Circus in London SE4 on the evening of Sunday 8th
March, followed by a short explosive set at the Telegraph Hill Festival
a week later.
The Jazz Circus
recording is, at the moment, the only chance to hear Billy playing guitar
in the studio from 2008. And far from us to say any different - he is in
amazing
form in a free jazz impro sense!
You can enjoy the words of
jazz sage John, information about the project, extracts from the CD and
how to purchase at jazzcircus.co.uk
.
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Kidsamonium Concert Cancel
Conundrum!
The terrible moment...
©2008 Joost Buis
Confusion surrounds the cancellation
of the final KIDSAMONIUM tour date, which was scheduled for the
magnificent Perth Concert Hall on Sunday 21st September.
Tom 'The King' Bancroft,
the mercurial inventor of the whole mad extravaganza, cited logistics over
a series of pre concert workshops, which had floundered due to personnel
changes in the local schools education department.
But we at billy.com
aren't
convinced.....
Photographic evidence, courtesy
of The Dutch Tourist, Joost Buis, suggests that the real
reason the concert was cancelled was due to the terrible stage accident
that befell Smelly The Glove Puppet (Sooty's less talented twin
brother) whilst on-stage at Ullapool five night earlier.
Having performed 'Smelly's
Blues' with his usual aplomb, he flew high in the air, only for him to
land with great force under the oversized buffoon boot of Billy the
Aviator.
Rushed to the Toy Hospital,
he was given a once over by a junior toy doctor, who diagnosed 'minor frontal
stage dirt' and Smelly gamely performed the next show, after a day's rest,
in the magnificent Kilmarnock Grand Hall to 850 screaming fans (well, they
were only 7 and 8 years old...).
However, his usual brio
was somewhat lacking and he collapsed in the wings after the first set.
Doctor Bancroft (himself
a doctor, which is why he's Doctor Bancroft), although not really a Toy
Doctor, prescribed no broken bones, but recommended a complete rest.
'The show must go on', whispered
a pained puppet to his puppetmeister.
'What did he say?', asked
the anxious troupe hovering over the stricken chap.
'He said - "The snow must
be gone"', replied The Aviator. 'He's deluded. He doesn't know where he
is. If Smelly can't perform, neither can I'.
And with that, The Aviator
stomped off blubbing 'I can't fly! I can't fly! - thus ending the tour
there and then one date short.
That's what we at billy.com
think really caused the cancellation of the final tour date.......
In a bizarre twist to the
sorry saga, Jenkins was then sighted over then next few days wandering
forlornly around the foyer of the Perth Concert Hall attempting to purchase
whole rows of tickets for the cancelled KIDSAMONIUM show......
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Resonance Radio Documentary!
©Mary Thackray
A marvellous half hour radio
programme was broadcast on in the London area on Resonance Radio
104.4FM ( resonancefm.com ) on Monday
7th July by musician and broadcaster James Hodder entitled 'The
Diatonic System Still Lives'.
The programme synoposis read:
'The Diatonic System Still
Lives' - James Hodder examines the work of Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart
and Billy Jenkins in order to discover how relevant traditional Western
Ideas are in musical composition and whether they affect creativity. Also
featuring Ben Watson and Mike Barnes.
Mr Jenkins was delighted
with the show, considering his dislike of broadcast compression and sends
his congratulations to Mr Hodder for an impressive documentary!
billy.com are
trying to source a listen back option for the many who missed it.
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Whither The Composer?!?
It'll be interesting to tune
into Resonance FM radio soon to hear a documentary by guitarist
and programme maker James Hodder.
Mr Hodder has just interviewed
Mr Jenkins on aspects of his composing and he probably got far more material
than anticipated.
'Short shrift' would be to
understate the suggestion that Jenkins used similar techniques as Frank
Zappa. Jenkins found that rather offensive.
'For a start', fumed the
Bromley born again bluesman, 'Zappa's music has no soul whatsoever.
He was a supreme technician as a composer and arranger. But, as a guitarist,
he was quite incapable of playing over anything other than a two chord
vamp. He was also a control freak, an excellent businessman and a capitalist.
I am none of these things'.
Jenkins also refuted the
charge of satire and humour in his own work.
'Yes, with Burlesque
in the seventies and The Fantastic Trimmer & Jenkins in the
1980's, that was satirical. But my composed music since that time
has bought out the joy of collective music making that makes people smile,
and it is that which gets mistaken for satire'.
Prompted with some astute
questioning by Mr Hodder, Jenkins also raised the very contemporary problems
for composers of broad band downloading and recorded sound and EU directives
regarding live performance.
'For me, downloaded music
played through tiny speakers is useless. The retardation of notes are denied.
There is no air to be heard. Mechanical presumption takes away the spirit
of the acoustic instrument. I'm not sure what the way forward is. I'd rather
bring out a 45 rpm 7" single with the Here Is The Blues! electric
guitar twang duo than offer an impotent downloaded rendition of a larger
ensemble. There'd be much more fun to be had marketing the former, that's
for sure!'
'As for live performances,
no one knows how these new EU rules that forbid noise over 85 decibels
in the workplace will affect living composers. We've already had a cancellation
of a work by Dror Feiler by the Bavarian Symphony Orchestra
in Berlin. Again, there is huge turmoil. No one can predict the way forward.'
And that was just Billy J
warming up...!
Meanwhile, not so much 'whither
the composer' but, rather worryingly, wither the composer......
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Interesting YouTube Videos
Found!
Fascinating footage has surfaced
from 1998, when Mr Jenkins organised the first ever football World Cup
USA
v Iran big screen live improvisation for two trios.
Captured by Jem Soar on
Super 8, it gives a taste of the madness and fun of superimposing aural
creativity over on screen visual excitement.
There's also three short
trailers of Tom Bancroft's Kidsmonium - where Billy can been seen
actually
flying!
Get thee to Billy's YouTube
playlist and, as they say, 'enjoy'.......
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An Inspired 'Here Is The
Blues!' Review!
©Richard Phipps
A great Here Is The Blues!
review by Billy Hill has been posted on the excellent Blues
in London website.
It captures the excitement
of the duo's recent performance at Brooks Blues Bar in Putney and
begs the question why the pair arn't enjoyed in public more often.
'It only takes an email from
a booker to discuss things,' says Mr Jenkins, 'and although we're not great
travellers - you never know...'.
Considering they've just
returned from two very successful blues festivals in Portugal it can't
be a fear of flying that restricts their schedule, nor too many road miles,
as both musicians are seasoned drivers.
'But I have to confess, traffic
on the road is often a deciding factor,' says Jenkins. 'Getting to Heathrow
for 6am is a whole lot easier that heading through town in working hours.
Sadly, more often than not in the last few years, I've arrived at a gig
totally shattered from a far too overlong journey. And that is no good
for me or the audience.'
A glance at their Here
Is The Blues! website,
will give you all the information you need to see and hear - including
some sweet concert footage.
There's also a lovely clip
filmed by Paul Young from the HITB! Vortex Chess Sessions
on the Vortex website here.
Get thee to the Blues
in London site (Reviews page) and savour......
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BBC Apologise To Billy!
Thanks to some diligent reporting
by local journalists Mark Chandler (The Newshopper) and Lawrence
Conway (South London Press/Mercury), the BBC have issues an
apology for having two video clips of Billy's 'Songs of Praise'ensemble
removed from YouTube - see story below.
The Billy Office was contacted
and spoken to by the charming Robert Brosgill on the telephone and also
sent the following email:
Dear Mr Jenkins,
Further to our conversation
a moment ago, I can confirm that the BBC takes no issue with your use of
the name "Songs of Praise" for your band.
As I explained, the BBC actively
seeks to protect the copyright in its programmes and routinely flags copyright
infringing content on Youtube and other such sites for takedown by the
website administrators.
It recently came to the BBC's
attention that a great deal of footage from the BBC's "Songs of Praise"
programme is being made available on Youtube in breach of copyright.
It appears that, in dealing
with the high volume of BBC "Songs of Praise" content on Youtube, your
legitimate content may have been accidentally flagged for removal. I can
assure you that the BBC makes every effort to ensure that only infringing
content is flagged and there was no intention to remove your legitimate
clips.
With kind regards.
Yours sincerely
Robert Brosgill
Solicitor, BBC Litigation
& Intellectual Property Department
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BBC Censor 'Songs of Praise'!
The BBC says you can't hear
this band...!
©2006 Bob Fitzsimmonds
Two clips of live performances
by Billy's Songs of Praise band have been
removed from YouTube, after
the BBC claimed an 'infringement of copyright'.
Quite how they deem the tracks
'Dreadnought Seaman's Hospital' and 'Blues Is Calling Me' (being performed
live at the late, lamented The Spitz in October 2006) to be under their
jurisdiction is rather unsettling.
Do they presume that no
one is allowed to sing songs of praise!?!
It is understood that there
is quite a pro faith quorum in the hierarchy of the BBC - but this is surely
a misunderstanding?
Filmmaker Dave Eyre
is remaining diplomatically mute, for until this confusion is resolved,
he risks all his work being removed from YouTube. Mr Jenkins awaits
a ratification with bemusement.
"It's hilarious," says Jenkins,
"our national broadcast company not only considers the name of a television
programme to be their exclusive copyright even when used in other contexts,
such as, in this case, six musicians performing their own secular musical
songs of praise - but also deceive those believers they make religious
programmes for by pre-recording what are considered 'sacred' days sometimes
months ahead of their actual date which, were I believer, I too would consider
an 'infringement of copyright'."
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