Stolen Moments : Roger Little

I first met Roger little at the then Rush Hour Blues series of Commuter Jazz concerts which were held at Symphony Hall in Birmingham on a weekly basis. Now under the banner Free Jazz and promoted by Jazzlines\SH they continue to this day, every Friday at 5 PM and continue to draw a huge audience for jazz.
My portrait of Roger was made at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in December 2016 during one of his visits from Cyprus where he now lives.

We began by talking about how he got into jazz.

"It was in the 90’s and I was regularly having to travel North on the M6 for business" he began, "flicking across the radio dial I came across Jazz FM which in those days was broadcasting from Manchester". Listening to the station became a regular thing on his frequent journeys. The jazz was seeping into his consciousness.
"Up until then I had associated jazz with the likes of Acker Bilk and Kenny Ball who I’d seen on TV in the 60’s. At the time I was a fan of Blues, Dylan and rock music so the small amount jazz I had been exposed to was anathema to me". The radio station and those regular Northern journeys provided the key to a new sound world.

"It was a review I chanced upon in either the Times or Telegraph of Diana Krall which gave me the incentive to go and research this music I now knew to be jazz", Roger says. At first he wanted more of what he’d heard, the softer, smoother side of the music.

Some time later he was pointed in the direction of those Symphony Hall Rush Hour Blues sessions every Friday. Pretty soon he was meeting with people who had been listening to jazz for far longer than himself and thanks to regular attendance at the free jazz gigs he made friends in the jazz community and was exposed to a wider sweep of jazz music.
A bout of insomnia saw him tuning into the BBC World Service. " in those days they had an arts programme which regularly featured African music and jazz tinged music". It opened his ears further.

Following a divorce in 2009 he moved to Cyprus where he had a house.
"So, my introduction to the jazz scene in Cyprus was the first Limassol Jazz Festival in 2010". Sadly the first was also the last "there were maybe 20 events, it wasn’t a bad show", he adds. "I must tell here for a wider understanding that Cyprus has a population of 800,000, considerably less than for example Birmingham and spread out over a much wider area. The catchment for one city is quite small. There was only one recognised jazz venue in Limassol – Jazzy B. I used to persuade reluctant friends to join me for the late night sessions on a Friday night but they all only ever came once – it was mostly a bit too modern for them – they liked traditional jazz although I never actually found out what they meant by that. So I got used to going on my own and it was easy to get lost in the crowded environment of the times. Except that there was one notable occasion when despite delaying the start for an hour, the band eventually had to start with me as the only paying customer. Its not a very comfortable experience when they look to YOU at the end of a number to be the sole respondent to show appreciation in the normal way!

Jazzy B ultimately folded through lack of support and in time the mantle for holding jazz events was taken up by a new modern bar venue The Library Bar, in the old part of the city that had been rejuvenated by the setting up of the Cyprus Technical University in the old British colonial buildings, and the specific development around Limassol Castle of bars and restaurants that ultimately also served the adjacent new |Limassol Marina complex. It generally provided an opportunity for the same range musicians from across the island – mostly Nicosia and Limassol which are about an hour apart on a fast highway route.

But one significant development appeared to be the growth of University Music courses run by the established musicians as teachers and which produced young talent that guested on the usual gigs.

Sometime later as a member of a “retired community” social group (along the lines of U3A (University of the 3rd Age) ) I answered an appeal to set up a Jazz Group – meaning followers of, not players; and dedicated to the older portion of mostly expat residents. A surprising number came out of the woodwork to show an interest, but whatever it was that they thought they wanted, it wasn’t provided by the prospectus of the group that I was willing to lead. I rather suspect that they were attuned to follow existing practice and expected a regular say monthly meeting to talk about jazz. Well quite honestly I had no credentials to front this, and no-one else who might have, wanted to lead this other unstated pseudo interest.

In the end it boiled down to just a few independent initiatives.

As a social group of about 10 we meet monthly for a shared picnic at someone’s house, play jazz in the background with some commentary from the host, and more a meeting of like minds than anything else, talk about ,matters of mutual interest, here as opposed to anywhere else that would have served the same purpose. Although – I have prime claim to the best facilities around, with a “proper” hi-fi, an enclosed yard with external speakers and a perfect house layout for cooks in the kitchen that opens onto the yard. I just sit back and let it happen. Whenever I return from the UK the theme of gatherings that I host is invariably the Birmingham jazz scene and my experiences there.

We have a regular date at The Library Bar to meet and enjoy whatever gig is on; some declining the particular offering on the night and others from time to time being off island. It is not always a respectful audience, depending on what (customer) groups turn up and occupy seats in the music wing. Sometimes they forget that they are not in a pub – or not in the bar wing. We as the Finding Jazz group are liked by the bands since we are noted for listening to what they play. On one amusing occasion I found myself in Nicosia on a night when a regular cocktail jazz group was due to appear singing mostly from the American Songbook, and, coming in late just as the second set started I found myself in a crowded bar but sat right at the front – on the stage almost. At the end of the first number I politely applauded. I was the only one. Clearly this venue was not one where live music was appreciated – it might just as well have been piped. I was the centre of attention thereafter and made some new friends. Actually I requested one of my favourite songs – I loves you Porgy – from Porgy and Bess. They didn’t play it but a few months later at the Fly Again outdoor jazz festival, Ioanna Troulidou did sing it. I spoke to her at the break, we were already on speaking terms, and said how much I enjoyed it, its not very often heard. “Oh it was you” she said. The drummer was the same in both groups.

But there are venues where people will listen attentively in close to a concert atmosphere. And there are a wide variety of them too, from small roadside bars with a few stools and kerbside tables, small courtyard coffee shops, empty, stripped factories or warehouses with temporary staging for seats, traditional amphi-theatres and even the cloisters of an old monastery now converted to a cultural centre in the old city of Nicosia. Many of the gigs are free, some charge a nominal fee and €10 is the norm for a decent event with an overseas contributor.

The Library Bar has since the summer break begun to organise an exchange programme with Yellow Submarine in Israel to bring in some new bands in the expectation that it will develop into an exchange programme for Cypriot bands to go over there.

And finally I run a facebook page Finding Jazz, which started off as an information source for our group, but is now honoured by being visited / consulted by the music fraternity in general. It is not by any means an original source but it shares events that are published on number of obscure individual sources that others would not want to consult.

www.facebook.com/findingjazz/?fref=ts

And to wrap up the Cyprus scene I should also mention a Sarah Fenwick, a resident of cyprus and journalist with web marketing interests but also a significant jazz singer in her own right. She manages the open facebook group Support Jazz & Blues in Cyprus

www.facebook.com/groups/78950268835

Tango Blues
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFltfuCNkVI

Jazz Traces
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg94E03JV94

Given this reverse opportunity to list 5 songs; this is what I send to you from Cyprus, significant to me

Takoushis Karapatakis Project

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QghPDvSUt7Q

Cahit Kutrafali Charis Iouannou and company

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPdIJx7rWiQ

Ioanna Troullidou – singer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=btPJaBY1VtE

Leonid Nesterov Trio – at the Marina

www.youtube.com/watch?v=cT1TziR8pwg