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Jazz Night |
Woodcote Pre-school's motto is 'quality not profit', which means we rely on fundraising to pay for extras. Over the years we have got rather good at it!
Woodcote Pre-school has acquired quite a reputation as the 'party pre-school'. Two or three times a year, we run a live jazz night, featuring the highly acclaimed Ian Cruickshank's Gypsy Jazz. It is the fastest selling gig in town and is always sold out. Admission is by ticket only and you are advised not to leave it too late to buy tickets.
Ian Cruickshank is the man who brought Gypsy Jazz to the fore, devoting the last thirty years to researching, playing and promoting the music. Luckily for us he also happens to live in the village. His band, comprises the remarkable John Coverdale (probably the country's best jazz guitarist) on guitar and the highly-acclaimed Peter Morgan (there's no-one quite like him!) on bass. They play a wide variety of toe-tapping, swinging tunes ranging from jazz and swing standards to latin and blues. Having made his name playing tunes by Django Reinhardt, Ian has a huge repertoire, including many of his own compositions.
The band in full swing
Some of the committee hard at work
Coming soon: Mito and Fléco; 24th October 2008.
Diknu Schneeberger is a Sinti Gypsy from Vienna and, at the time of the gig, had just turned eighteen. Like so many Gypsy boys, Diknu is an absolutely phenomenal guitarist, with a lightning-fast, melodic and swinging style. He is, however, unusually talented, even by Gypsy standards, and is widely regarded on the Continent as being destined to rank amongst the Gypsy Jazz greats. He certainly has the looks, personality and sense of humour that combine to give a certain 'star quality'. He brought the house down on every night of his tour, had fans visiting the house in search of signed CDs and had audience comments along the lines of "phenomenal", "I might as well have a CD, seeing as how I will be cutting my hands off when I get home" and "I have just about recovered from the shock, a week later, and have managed to resist the urge to throw out all my guitars. You were right - pure excellence!".
Links:
"Diknu Schneeberger Trio - Rubina, Rythme Futur" on YouTube
Diknu Schneeberger
Diknu Schneeberger
Mito and Fléco are quite possibly Woodcote's favourite 'act'; they are ADORED by the audience, not just for their playing, but for their irresistible, shy Manouche charm. One couple summed it up when the husband said "I'd never seen Gypsies play before - absolutely amazing. I've never seen anything like it in my life!", whilst his wife gushed "ooh! They are so lovely. You just want to eat them, or put them in your pocket and take them home".
Mito and Fléco are Manouche Gypsies and live with their family in a caravan in Alsace. They speak only Manouche and enough French to get by, so communication normally results much laughter on both sides. They live and breathe Manouche music of all kinds, from traditional valses to Gypsy jazz, and revere the memory of the great Django Reinhardt, who has god-like status amongst the continental Gypsies. They have an irrepressible urge to play the guitar all day long with anyone who shows the slightest interest in joining in. In 2005 a website voted Mito "My Favourite Guitarist" at the 2004 Samois Festival – we can't imagine why!
We are very honoured when Mito and Fléco agree to play for us (not least as it involves them driving 700 miles and facing the horrors of "Le Tunnel sous beaucoup de l'eau"). Ian is great friends with Mito and says Mito will do almost anything to be able to play Ian's guitar!
On their first appearance they took Woodcote completely by storm. They had a huge round of applause before they had even set foot on the stage (which had them looking shyly embarrassed yet delighted) and went on to bring the house down, with the crowd cheering and stamping for more. Mito and Fléco were both stunned by their reception and were later found in the garden, having a post gig smoke, looking at their hands muttering "Mama!"; they were in a state of shock. As Mito put it "c'est magnifique".
Links:
"Mito Loeffler" on YouTube
"Samois 2002 jam session" on YouTube
Mito Loëffler soloing
Mito Loëffler and Fléco Lafertin
Ian Cruickshank and Mito Loëffler
Jazz Night October 2006
John Coverdale enjoying himself
On this occasion we featured Robin Nolan, one of the biggest names in Gypsy Jazz. Robin flew over from Amsterdam for a 'one-night only' performance and brought the house down. We had billed him as one of the great innovators of the genre, and the audience was not to be disappointed. His rendition of the Gypsy Anthem, Dark Eyes, had the audience stamping and clapping along in traditional style, before ending with a Purple Haze-style riff, complete with Hendrix feedback. As one delighted punter put it "wow, what a player! 'Groovy' must be his middle name". We don't think Robin plays many village halls, bigger more salubrious venues being his usual jet-setting style, but he certainly enjoyed himself and is keen to come back.
Robin Nolan
Ian Cruickshank and Robin Nolan
Paul Chester is one of the very finest exponents of the traditional style of Gypsy Jazz in the UK. He is internationally respected and has shared stages with some of the world's finest Gypsy Jazz musicians. Described by one hardened Gypsy Jazz fan as "scarily good" he not only plays with great technical finesse but, most importantly, with enormous charm and soul. This was definitely not a gig to miss.
Paul Chester, laughing
Pete Morgan
We do things properly at Woodcote Pre-school! Our jazz nights have been described variously as "magic", "the best night out in months", "a truly wonderful evening" and "unbelievable value for money".
In addition to three hours of great music, in a hall decked out with tablecloths and candles, we run a wine and real ale bar, with up to seven real ales on offer. Tickets include a top-notch "ploughman's and a pudding". We have constant expressions of amazement of the quality of the food on offer – locally produced smoked trout, apricot stilton, cranberry Wensleydale, four types of pate etc etc. It is definitely NOT your average ploughman's supper.
Usually, £15.
Tickets always start selling months in advance. We have a strict limit on numbers and always sell out. Admission is by ticket only, so we recommend you get in there early.
Telephone Ruth Hubbard on 01491 681391, or email us via this website.
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This page was last updated on Sunday 30 March 2008 Copyright © 2003–2008 Rob Hubbard and Woodcote Pre-school Group |