BSH interviews Mike Farmer (part one)

BSH: Mike, your reports on jazz in the northwest and the Railway in Stockport have drawn a lot of interest regarding the scene over there. However, before you tell us more about what’s going on in your neck of the woods, tell us about how you got into jazz. In other words, how it all began.

Mike: This would be when I was about fourteen and used to attend Moseley Hall Grammar School Cheadle and met two brothers John and Richard Rushton who were jazz fans but were also very good pianists who liked Bud Powell in particular. Bill Birch also went to Moseley Hall about the same time but I only found that out years later during one of our meetings to discuss his forthcoming book. I left school at fifteen as I found most of the lessons extremely boring and started a job right away at the Royal Automobile Club in Manchester. On the same bus to work every day were Alan Hare the well known big band leader and John Mayall who at the time was an art student. 

When I heard Earl Bostic on the radio playing his big hit Flamingo I felt a strong urge to get a saxophone so I walked into Stock and Chapmans on Oxford Street, Manchester, and paid a pound deposit and a pound monthly. This made me the owner of a silver alto saxophone which had Universal on the bell. As I knew next to nothing about how to play the thing I paid to have lessons from Nat Whitworth who was a fantastic teacher and worked in many big bands and also the Hallé Orchestra.

The first band I joined was the Paul Bromley Sextet. On piano in this band was my former school friend Richard Rushton who wrote out some great tunes which included Basie’s Hollywood Jump and Powell’s Bouncing with Bud. We rehearsed at Paul’s parents house in Woodford which had a full sized grand piano in the front room. One day John Mayall, who lived in a tree house in a field opposite popped in to listen and on hearing my solo on Over The Rainbow said to me "What happened to the middle eight?" I was so dumb in those days I thought you just blew whatever came into your head!   Always been grateful that he put me right about that. Things were going well in that group but just when we were creating a bit of interest locally I had to leave to do the dreaded National Service for two years. Dave Mott took my place in the group and as far as I know he is still active in this area.

BSH: From your reviews I gather that you’ve travelled the world and, from your comments, visited many clubs and festivals in a variety of places. Tell me about some of those experiences such as your favourite places as well as any that, shall we say, proved disappointing.

Mike: I have great memories of trips to New York City and visits to the many jazz clubs there.  My favourite jazz venue if I had to choose one would be the Village Vanguard which I visited about a dozen times. Other places I liked were the Half Note, Village Gate, Studio Rivbea, Metropole, Jazz City, the Jazz Gallery, Lincoln Center and of course there were events in Central Park at the Bandshell and the Woolman area. 

In 1973 George Wein staged the Newport In New York festival and he organised concerts all over the city in theatres and parks. I went to a couple of midnight jam sessions that he put on in Radio City. Carnegie Hall was another place he utilised for his shows. I was in NYC for three weeks and I heard many amazing musicians including some unknown ones that later became famous worldwide.

I also went to many jazz festivals in other countries and they used to be very good value and I shall always remember the first time I visited the North Sea Jazz Festival when it was located in The Hague, Netherlands. Great place to see the jazz legends but a bit of an endurance test. 

Went to the Nice Jazz Festival twice driving there in a 1963 Volkswagen Camper and also took in the Antibes Festival which was close by. One of the best festivals was the Malta Jazz Festival which takes place by the harbour in a very scenic setting. Another festival that I liked was the Berlin Jazz Festival. I went on three of the trips after I'd read about them in the Melody Maker and the concerts all took place in a superb modern theatre in the middle of a bombed out area. The only disappointing thing that happened was that on the third trip a day was lost due to the flight being diverted to another airport and then due to the delay the air corridor was closed and the plane could not take off 'til morning. 

In the UK I’ve attended jazz festivals in Newcastle, Brackley, Wigan, Glossop, Middlesbrough, Llandudno, Pengley, Appleby, Liverpool, Buxton, Brighton, and, most recently, Swanage.