George Van Eps photo (1993)

[grahambop]

A nice shot of George Van Eps recently posted on facebook by my friend Brian O’Connor. This was taken at the Bull’s Head in Chislehurst, Kent (not one of the UK’s better-known venues!) in 1993. He was playing in a duo with Howard Alden as I recall (I was at the gig too).

[Rob MacKillop]

Nice concentration there. Great hands too.

[grahambop]

He was quite frail as I recall, and at one point in one of his solo pieces he stopped and said ‘I’m sorry, I can’t quite remember how it goes!’

But nobody was complaining, you don’t get a chance to see a legend like that very often.

[jameslovestal]

He was quite frail as I recall, and at one point in one of his solo pieces he stopped and said ‘I’m sorry, I can’t quite remember how it goes!’

But nobody was complaining, you don’t get a chance to see a legend like that very often.

You said it! Van Eps moved to Southern California and I was able to see him a few times. Alden grew up in the area so he would join in when he was in the area (Alden lived on the East Coast).

After Van Eps passed we had Alden over for house concerts at my friend many times. Great guy and with many good stories. The only thing that was funny was that a lot of the people that would come to these house concerts were Django fans. They knew Alden only from his playing on the Sean Penn \ Woody Allen film Sweet Lowdown.

Alden would only play one Django song and that would confuse these folks since they were expecting Swing-42 etc... all night long!

[Litterick]

I never expected Chislehurst to be mentioned in this forum.

[grahambop]

You said it! Van Eps moved to Southern California and I was able to see him a few times. Alden grew up in the area so he would join in when he was in the area (Alden lived on the East Coast).

After Van Eps passed we had Alden over for house concerts at my friend many times. Great guy and with many good stories. The only thing that was funny was that a lot of the people that would come to these house concerts were Django fans. They knew Alden only from his playing on the Sean Penn \ Woody Allen film Sweet Lowdown.

Alden would only play one Django song and that would confuse these folks since they were expecting Swing-42 etc... all night long!

A few years ago Howard Alden did a gig with Shane Hill not far from where I live. After the gig Howard needed to get to the nearest railway station to return to London, so Shane asked if I could give him a lift. So that was cool, I had a nice chat with Howard in the car all the way to Redhill station.

[grahambop]

I never expected Chislehurst to be mentioned in this forum.

To compound matters, I have now mentioned Redhill.

[sgcim]

A few years ago Howard Alden did a gig with Shane Hill not far from where I live. After the gig Howard needed to get to the nearest railway station to return to London, so Shane asked if I could give him a lift. So that was cool, I had a nice chat with Howard in the car all the way to Redhill station.

Next thing you know, you're going to claim that you had a chat with Dick Morrissey at the Bull's Head!

[grahambop]

Next thing you know, you're going to claim that you had a chat with Dick Morrissey at the Bull's Head!

well I did as it happens! although it was at a gig in Croydon, I think I have mentioned that before.

But it’s not surprising really, all the UK guys used to do regular gigs at pubs and similar venues around Croydon etc. and they were all friendly to anyone with a genuine interest in the music. So I spoke to Jim Mullen, Terry Smith, Louis Stewart, John Etheridge.

[neatomic]

and still sportin' the 7 string gretsch!!!

the master van eps!


cheers

[AlsoRan]

well I did as it happens! although it was at a gig in Croydon, I think I have mentioned that before.

But it’s not surprising really, all the UK guys used to do regular gigs at pubs and similar venues around Croydon etc. and they were all friendly to anyone with a genuine interest in the music. So I spoke to Jim Mullen, Terry Smith, Louis Stewart, John Etheridge.

Now I see how you reached such a high-level in Jazz guitar. You have rubbed shoulders with some great inspirations!

[sgcim]

well I did as it happens! although it was at a gig in Croydon, I think I have mentioned that before.

But it’s not surprising really, all the UK guys used to do regular gigs at pubs and similar venues around Croydon etc. and they were all friendly to anyone with a genuine interest in the music. So I spoke to Jim Mullen, Terry Smith, Louis Stewart, John Etheridge.

Oh, I thought it was at the Bull's Head. Did Alden have anything interesting to say that you'd like to share with the rest of the class?

[neatomic]

soft machine @ fairfield hall, croydon...1970...they played there in '72 as well



cheers

[grahambop]

Oh, I thought it was at the Bull's Head. Did Alden have anything interesting to say that you'd like to share with the rest of the class?

Well I remember he was impressed with the storage space in my car, a Skoda Octavia (lots of room for his amp and guitar!).

Apart from that, the only thing I recall is that I told him I’d just done a solo guitar video of Stardust (he had played it as an encore), but that I just basically played the melody, I did not do all the cool improv stuff that he did when he played it. He was very encouraging and said that getting the melody across was the most important thing you could do.

[grahambop]

Now I see how you reached such a high-level in Jazz guitar. You have rubbed shoulders with some great inspirations!

haha well I wouldn’t go that far. But I think it’s true that seeing top players up close live can be truly inspiring, it gives you enthusiasm to keep going.