News
HOT
NEWS!!........
Keith
Shadwick's Candid Cancer Bash!
One
Step On From The Blues!
Resonance
Radio Documentary!
Another
Great Kidsamonium Show!
Who's
That Lady?!
Composing
Commissions Looming!?
Whither
The Composer?!?
RECENT
NEWS!!........
Interesting
YouTube Videos Found!
An
Inspired 'Here Is The Blues!' Review!
BBC
Apologise To Billy!
South
London Press Tells It Like It Is!
BBC
Censor 'Songs of Praise'!
Songs
of Praise Live! CD Now Available!
Music
Makers, Creative Business People & Arts Administrators!
Billy
is now Booking For 2008/2009!
Keith Shadwick's Candid
Cancer Bash!
A extraordinary and poignant
event takes place upstairs at Ronnie Scott's Club on Tuesday 5th August.
It's the launch of a CD by
the respected music writer, journalist and critic Keith Shadwick.
It's a recording that has taken Keith 35 years to complete, with Mr
Jenkins contributing guitar on three tracks - which he did back in
1984!
This from Sheela Bates at
AIR media:
This Bash
is an important Candid charity event on behalf of Keith Shadwick who has
been fighting a rare form of cancer for the past three years. The cancer's
name is mesothelioma and it is caused by exposure to asbestos. Most people
who contract it have no idea where this exposure may have happened and
Keith, who has written articles about it for the national press, wants
to raise awareness of the disease.
Keith
is of course a well respected journalist and author who has served everyone
in the jazz community particularly well over the years. He has in the past
half-dozen years written books on Bill Evans, Jimi Hendrix and Led Zepplin:
before that he authored The Jazz & Blues Encyclopaedia (thumbprint
above), The Guinness Guide To Classical Composers and edited The Gramophone
Good CD Guide. He is still a great contributor to Jazzwise Magazine, The
Independent and Daily Mail. He also did a stint of five years at Classic
FM (1992-96) and became closely associated with the popular phenomenon
of the station's involvement in Gorecki Symphony No 3.
What is
not so well known is that Keith was a saxophonist and composer of huge
talent albeit that in recent year’s journalistic duties have taken preference.
Several years ago Keith made some recordings with colleagues from Australia
which until now have not seen the light of day.
Candid
Records is going to fulfil Keith's wish that this music gets a proper release
by making a "Special Edition" CD titled "Free Time". This will be given
away at the Bash or can be purchased from the Candid
Records website.
All proceeds will go the
Bart's Charity.
Bart’s Mesothelioma Research is a group of doctors, nurses and laboratory
researchers based at London's famous Bart's Hospital aiming to improve
the treatment and increase our understanding of mesothelioma and lung cancer.
It is particularly effective because overheads are virtually nil so the
collected money is actually used for research rather than administration.
Mesothelioma
is the main type of cancer caused by asbestos poisoning. Mesothelioma and
other asbestos-related illnesses such as lung cancer and pleural plaques
are increasing in incidence even though new usage of asbestos in the UK
virtually ceased after 1980. The problem is that there is a typical delay
of between 30 and 50 years from the exposure to asbestos dust and
the development of one of the diseases.
Dave
O’Higgins, Jason Rebello, Jon Newey, and Paul Gamabaccini
are some of the names who will be involved on the night. As this is
a special event, there will be no guest list as proceeds will be going
to charity: Entrance £10 + free CD
Please join us and help
raise money for this great cause.
If you would like to get
involved or find out more information please contact Sheela Bates @ AIR
on 020 7386 1607
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One Step On From The Blues!
©Simon Thackray
The Blues is an affirmation
of life.
For a man to call his free
and fast flowing instrumental ensemble since 1981 the The Voice of God
Collective - citing that 'the Voice of the People is the Voice of God
- and the religion is music' and then preach the blues seriously since
the mid 1990's, suggests a man who fully accepts that there is but one
life, with no 'Invisible Friend' to guide one to 'the Promised Land' and
supposed eternity.
Add a thorough grounding
in backstage antics as a pre pubescent C of E choirboy ('great music, crap
lyrics...'), it is hardly surprising that bj.com is proud
to announce that Billy (now he's a properly grown up fiftysomething) has
been studying and training with the British Humanist Association
.
He is now officially a Probationary
Humanist Officiant accredited by the BHA to conduct non religious
funerals.
'I have
nothing against those who need spiritual guidance to help them through
life, although I draw the line when religious fundamentalists evoke one
or all of what I describe as the 'Three 'C's: Conning, Controlling and
Killing.....', says Jenkins.
'The work
will complement my performance and recording. Most of my music is a celebration
of existence. I let musicians express themselves through my music.'
'Now,
thanks to the insightful and thorough BHA training, I can be of
service to those who find death has suddenly hit them smack between the
eyes. The role does not involve me as a musician, but with my experience
as a facilitator of live events, I will be able to, hopefully, assist in
celebrating the life of a person whose death has left a terrible hole in
the lives of those who knew and loved them.'
'A fitting
funeral ceremony can do so much to assist and accept closure and to open
the door to the initially painful and empty path of life one has to
continue with. It is a threshold that has to be crossed.'
'Amazingly,
too many people are still unaware that a funeral can be
non religious and I recommend
you find out more about the work of the BHA and their ceremonies (they
also officiate at weddings, baby namings and civil partnerships) at www.humanism.org.uk.'
Billy will be mostly conducting
funerals in and around SE London and you
can reach him via the BHA
website (type in 'funerals' and 'SE' for the postcode)
or the bj.com Contact
page.
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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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Another Great Kidsamonium
Show!
'The King' thrills the kiddies
once more as the baby doll gets it!
Dr Tom Bancroft has
done it again! Billy flew up (of course!) to the Glasgow Jazz Festival
to take part as Billy The Aviator in the award winning Kidsamonium
devised by the madcap drummer, composer and band leader.
The Glasgow Herald reporter
was there amongst the (young) crowd and you can read his review here.
Next stop is the Cambridge
Folk festival on the 3rd August, prior to an extended north of the border
Scottish Arts Council funded tour in September.
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Who's That Lady?!
©Victoria Harley
One of joys of being a itinerant
musician is that you get to interact with so many creative people from
all areas of life. Take this photograph from the recent Blues Collective
concert in the Crossley Gallery at Dean Clough, Halifax.
Shot by Victoria Harley,
it captures violinist Dylan Bates deep into the bowels of his instrument
as guitarist Jenkins and bassist Thad Kelly offer ears and accompaniment.
But what strikes the observer
is, who is the lady in the photograph propped up in his case...!?
Ms Harley is an intuitive
and emphatic photographer. You can enjoy more of her work at www.agimago.co.uk
.
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Composing Commissions
Looming!?
©Nick Corker
With an enforced period of
very little composing for Mr Jenkins now over, as helping to care for an
aged relative efficiently extinguished the muse for the past few years
(especially for most of 2007), accepting composing commissions are now
back on the agenda.
How heartening then, to see
Jenkins in deep discussion with The Shed's Simon Thackray over yet
another barking concept when The Blues Collective performed in North Yorkshire
recently. In the past, Simon has bought us the Yorkshire Pudding
Boat Race, put saxophonist Lol Coxhill in a skip, toured trombonist Alan
Tomlinson with a mobile fish and chip shop and commissioned Billy to write
the music and poet Ian McMillan the words for the 'hands on' knitting experience
'HAT'.
With Thackray, the whole
world is his medium, so should his concept materialise, we at billy.com
doubt whether Jenkins will be composing for conventional instruments!
Whilst Thackray's mind whirls
onwards and upwards on this confidential project, you can enjoy seeing
an exhibition of his camera work.
Photographs
from the Shed is on show at the Roslyn Lyons Gallery, Music Research
Centre, University of York until the 27th June.
Meanwhile, down at the Bath
International Music Festival to perform with Tom Bancroft's brilliant
Kidsamonium,
Mr J. was seen having an informal chat with Artistic Director Joanna
MacGregor about a possible piece for 2009. And, once again, it doesn't
just involve a score, musicians and a listening audience.......
Both little seeds that need
germinating - but great to know that Jenkins now feels he can focus on
composition seriously again!
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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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South London Press Tells
It Like It Is!
This is a BAND , o.k.!?!
©22006 Brian Aldrich
Looking back on recent publicity,
there was much amusement here at billy.com, when the excellent
Time
Out feature by Mike Flynn was published last October.
MIke thought he was writing
for the Sports section, so he slanted the piece around Billy's beloved
bowls - hence the guffaws when it appeared in the Music pages!
However, intrepid South London
Press reporter Zoe Walker, also wrote a feature that covered some
of the musical issues currently concerning Billy. Oh yes, and some bowls....
You can enjoy the article
here.
Meanwhile, Mr Jenkins wishes
it to been known that, as band leader, sorry, we mean Captain of Francis
Drake Bowls Clubs in leafy Brockley, SE London he is mostly a follower
of the outdoor summer bowls season and music firmly remains his vocation!
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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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