OUR NEW POSTAL ADDRESS AND ’PHONE NUMBER WILL

BE ADDED HERE AS SOON AS WE HAVE MOVED HOUSE IN LATE

SEPTEMBER 2007. IN THE MEANTIME THE EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD BE

WORKING VIRTUALLY ALL THE TIME, AND WILL REMAIN THE

SAME AFTER THE MOVE, SO PLEASE EMAIL FOR INFO!

Email address at foot of page.

Who is this Norman Field, anyway?

Born in 1944, he became interested in old-time recordings when, at the age of about 6, he was given an old wind-up gramophone and a few records that went along with it. Unaccountably, the sounds that proceeded from these discs of 1920s Hot Dance Music took him over, and he has never really recovered since. A further setback occurred around 1958, when his well-intentioned father bought him a clarinet. Field naturally attempted to play on the clarinet the sounds he had heard from the 78s, and then, of course, all was irretrievably lost… He started playing in a school Jazz band in 1959. He made his first record with the Zenith Hot Stompers in 1966 for VJM. Since then he has appeared on nearly 30 albums; I – that is, he – was amazed to see this number in Gerard Bielderman’s Eurojazz Discography No.124!

Since 1990 Field has concentrated on playing Jazz, and more recently also developing his transcription service for vintage 78 rpm records, tapes, vinyl, &c., as outlined elsewhere on this website. Actually, since the Gerard Bielderman discography (2000), Field has appeared on several more CDs… which brings us to the true purpose of this web page! Yes, ladies and gentleman, there is a new CD currently available, a rather special one in fact, and one all enthusiasts of 1920s Paul Whiteman and Bix Beiderbecke will be sure to enjoy.

Better still, thanks to the miracles of modern web-technology, you can actually purchase an example of it on-line, here, NOW!

But we are getting ahead of ourselves; first, of course, you need to find out more about these discs, and hear audio samples…

Work still ongoing on this page, late July 2007.

___________________________

A TRIBUTE TO PAUL WHITEMAN.

About two years ago, Keith Nichols realised one of his long-standing ambitions, namely to stage a Paul Whiteman Tribute concert, as he had done in the 1970s with The New Paul Whiteman Orchestra, and also in New York. This new concert also used the original scores of the Paul Whiteman band. However, some of those original manuscript scores are annotated, or corrected, modified &c., and sometimes not so easy to read. Thus Keith had to re-write them all in modern format - a truly Herculean task. The concert, which was given in London, was a great success; and so it was only natural that a follow-up concert should be given in the north of England. After much groundwork, Mike Durham was able to promote and arrange funding for a concert at The Sage, the prestigious new venue in Gateshead. The full ensemble consisted of 33 musicians and singers. 20 were members of The Northern Sinfonia, and the ten of Keith Nichols’ Jazz Artists, plus three vocalists. The date was 13th July 2006. Rehearsals took place all the previous day and most of the day of the concert. It was naturally a great thrill for yours truly to have a place among these illustrious ranks. The mixing of classical musicians and ‘Jazzers’ in one ensemble is still a surprisingly rare phenomenon, and it must have been with some degree of puzzlement that the orchestra assembled itself for the first full-scale rehearsal. Yet within as little as half an hour, a great unity of purpose prevailed: and by the afternoon of the concert - believe it or not - we were all having a most enjoyable (if challenging) time. At least it was challenging to me! How did the concert go? Well, the Sage seats about 1200 people, and it was nearly sold out. So there wasn’t really any choice in the matter. It simply had to be a success - and you know what? It was!

Just click purple underlined links to hear an mp3 sample of the track.

But enough talking! Here is the track list.

1. Because My Baby Don’t Mean Maybe Now.

2. ’Tain’t So, Honey ’Tain’t So.

3. Riverboat Shuffle.

4. Dardanella.

5. Baby, Oh Where Can You Be?

6. That’s My Weakness Now.

7. Changes.

8. Oodles Of Noodles.

9. Singin’ The Blues.

10. So The Blackbirds And The Bluebirds Got Together.

11. San.

12. There Ain’t No Sweet Man (that’s worth the salt of my tears).

13. I’m Coming Virginia.

14. Raggin’ The Scale.

15. Oh, Miss Hannah.

16. Louisiana.

17. From Monday On.

18. Livery Stable Blues.

To get your copy of this great CD, just click on the PayPal link below…

Here insert PayPal htm.

THE RHYTHM BOYS & SPATS, Vol. 3.

In early 2007, a number of seriously-minded Jazz musicians converged resolutely on Mike Durham’s ever-hospitable domicile in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in the north-east of England. From Birmingham two came, and one from London, far distant to the south. Also one came from the idyllic Cotswolds, and yet another from the Forest of Dean, way down on the Severn estuary. One intrepid member even flew in from Malmö in Sweden. With Mike and two confrères from Newcastle itself, it was clear that another CD by The Rhythm Boys was to be made! This new album is the third in what bids fair to be an annual series. Mike Durham had selected a fresh lot of neglected tunes from the 1920s & 30s for us to play. That is indeed the policy of The Rhythm Boys: to rescue, from threatening oblivion, worthy and entertaining songs. They are given a relaxed and informal interpretation, much as they would have had in the busy recording studios of New York or Chicago back in the Classic Era. Or at least we hope that’s what they sound like. For my part, listening to the final product (and bearing in mind that there is - or should be - no more severe critic than oneself), this CD ain’t bad at all! I think there are only 200 copies of it, so get yours now! Again, the purple underlined links will play you an .mp3 sample of the track.

By the way, here’s the line-up for this CD: Mike Durham (trumpet, vocal); Paul Munnery (trombone); Yours Truly (clarinet, bass clarinet, alto, C-melody & tenor saxophone); Keith Nichols (piano); Thomas ‘Spats’ Langham (guitar, tenor guitar, banjo, ukulele, vocal); Frans Sjöström (bass saxophone); John Carstairs Hallam (string bass, brass bass); Pete Soulsby (drums).

1. Roll On, Mississippi, Roll On.

2. Achin’ Hearted Blues.

3. Out Where The Blues Begin.

4. Something To Remember You By.

5. That’s A Plenty.

6. I’m Walkin’ On Air.

7. Sweet Mama, Papa’s Getting Mad.

8. Futuristic Rhythm.

9. I Wished On The Moon.

10. I’m The Medicine Man Blues For The Blues.

11. I Want To Be Alone With Mary Brown.

12. Zulu Wail.

13. Dardanella.

14. You’ve Been Taking Lessons In Love.

15. I’m A Bear In A Lady’s Boudoir.

16. Yes, Yes, My Honey Said Yes.

17. Hello Montreal.

18. Search Light Rag.

To get your copy of this excellent CD, just click the PayPal link below…

Here insert PayPal htm.

Still working on this page: hope to have the audio samples uploaded vy soon. But not until after moving house, sorry!

Please do not hesitate to contact me for any further info. you may need.

Email: jazz@normanfield.com

Also, if you live in the U.K., there is no need to use PayPal, though you can use it if you like – except the CDs will then be £13 each instead of £12, because that is for Air Mail postage world-wide.

Best regards,

Norman.

Page last revised 3rd September 2007.