POETRY AND JAZZ: An historical note by Jeremy Robson

The first, rather rough and ready poetry and jazz concert at Hampstead Town Hall in 1961 was the exciting prelude to what was to become known as Poetry and Jazz in Concert. It led to our being invited to give over three hundred concerts in arts festivals, universities, theatres, schools etc up and down the country in the following years, including six concerts for playwright Arnold Wesker’s Centre 42 Arts Festivals, and they became a major feature of the swinging ’60s.
Apart from that first reading, and the Royal Festival Hall follow-up, the music for all the concerts was under the direction of the remarkable pianist/composer Michael Garrick, one of the most influential figures in British jazz, whom the late Johnny Dankworth described as ‘world class’. His various groups had a roster of now legendary jazz virtuosi - among them Jo Hariott, Shake Keane, Ian Carr and Don Rendell.  Tragically Michael died shortly before the special 50th Anniversary Concert arranged last November, and Barry Green stepped seamlessly into the breach.
Many distinguished poets, were involved over the years, including Ted Hughes, Stevie Smith, Thomas Blackburn, Laurie Lee, Alan Brownjohn, Vernon Scannell, Peter Porter and even, on occasion, Spike Milligan. Like me, Dannie Abse is a veteran of that first concert, as was Adrian Mitchell.  We always made a point of featuring poets reading their own work (after all, poets generally do write for their own voices), but for the anniversary concert it felt right to include as well the ‘voices’ of some of those poets who regularly participated but who are alas no longer with us. Their work was read by members of their families, which was a wonderful bonus, and I am delighted that Sasha Mitchell is able to join us again this evening to perform her father’s work.  
Poetry readings have always seemed to me to be a valuable introduction to and extension of the written word, but not a substitute for it. As a result of these readings - very different from their rather pious formal predecessors - people were later drawn to buy books and explore the poems on the page, and because of the superb musicianship of the players involved in the concerts, many poetry lovers came to hear jazz with new ears. The musicians certainly created an exciting atmosphere in which to read poems....and we had a lot of fun along the way.

Dannie Abse CBE
Dannie Abse is a poet, author, doctor and playwright. He has written and edited more than sixteen books of poetry, as well as fiction and a range of other publications. He is the author of Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve and several autobiographical volumes, the most recent of which, Goodbye, Twentieth Century, was published by Pimlico in 2001 to critical acclaim, and republished in November 2011 in an extended version. His most recent novel, The Strange Case of Dr Simmonds & Dr Glas, was published in 2002 and long-listed for the Booker Prize.
The first decade of the 21st century has been an award-winning one for Abse. In 2003 his New and Collected Poems received the Special Commendation of the Poetry Book Society, and his book of poetry, Running Late received the Roland Mathias Prize. The Presence was the winner of the prestigious Wales Book of the Year award in 2008. New and Selected Poems (2009) was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes prize and, soon after, Abse was given the Wilfred Owen Award. He is president of the Welsh Academy of Letters and was recently awarded a CBE.

Alan Brownjohn
Born in south-east London in 1931 and educated at Merton College, Oxford., Alan Brownjohn is the author of twelve individual books of poetry and three collected editions, of which the most recent is Collected Poems, 1952–2006.  Ludbrooke and Others (Enitharmon, 2010) is his latest volume, and The Saner Places, a selection from over fifty years’ work, was published in July 2011.
Brownjohn has written five novels, his most recent being Windows on the Moon (Black Spring Press, 2009), and in 2007 he received the Special Award of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain for lifetime achievement.
Among anthologies he has edited are New Poems (1970–71) with Seamus Heaney and Jon Stallworthy, and New Poetry 3 with Maureen Duffy. He has made versions of two classic dramas, Goethe’s Torquato Tasso (National Theatre and Radio 3) and Corneille’s Horace (Lyric, Hammersmith).

Jeremy Robson
The originator of the Poetry and Jazz concerts, Jeremy Robson was for many years the Tribune poetry critic. His poems have been widely published, and his books include 33 Poems (Sidgwick & Jackson) and In Focus (Allison & Busby). A new book of his poems is to be published in 2012.  He has edited a number of anthologies including The Young British Poets (Chatto) and Poems from Poetry and Jazz in Concert (Souvenir Press).  He has also run his own publishing imprint for many years.

Adrian Mitchell
Adrian Mitchell (1932-2008) was the author of ten books of poetry, several anthologies for children, and adapted Golden Age Spanish classics for the Royal Shakespeare Company and for the National Theatre. His verse adaptation of Marat/Sade was recently revived by the RSC in Stratford.  He travelled the globe doing workshops with schools and inspiring hundreds of children to enjoy all kinds of poetry.  His last three books – Tell Me Lies, Shapeshifters and Umpteen Pockets – were sadly published after his death.

Sasha Mitchell
Sasha has been a professional actress and singer since the age of 16, and has been a member of  Wonderful Beast Theatre Company for many years (www.wonderfulbeast.co.uk)
Sasha has been singing her father Adrian Mitchell’s songs since she could talk.  She worked with him on his shows and the cabarets commissioned by the Tricycle Theatre, and continues to perform his work, including a recent show of his poetry for children, Umpteen Pockets.
She is a voice coach and works with Resonance Voice Training and TENDER in London.  

The Musicians
Barry Green plays regularly in jazz venues around the UK, including Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express Dean Street, the 606 Club and The Vortex.  As well as teaching at the Guildhall School of Music and Goldsmith’s College, he is a member of various groups and has released CDs. (www.moletone.com)
Tim Wells (bass) has been a freelance jazz and orchestral musician his native America and in Germany, where he played, toured and recorded with a number of jazz ensembles, including Sam Rivers, David Friedman and Charlie Mariano.  Since 1989 he has lived in Britain, teaching and working as a freelance jazz bassist with nearly all major UK jazz figures, and including concerts with the CBSO and Simon Rattle.  Currently he is a member of the John Horler/Trevor Tomkins trio.
Trevor Tomkins (drums) has played with many of the all time jazz greats and was a member of the Rendell/Carr Quintet, and of Ian Carr’s Nucleus.  He is currently professor of jazz, drums and improvisations at the Guildhall School of Music.