Starting this coming Monday 9th January 2012 and continuing every other Monday Evening from 7.30pm I will host a FREE jazz jam and open mic at The Enterprise pub in Holborn Central London, WC1R 4PN

Our first session will be with Joe Bickerstaff on keys, Jason Simpson on double bass and Sophie Alloway on drums – what a line up!  So bring your horns and your charts and join the fun!

Here’s a review of the first session by London Jazz :0)

Have a happy, jazzy 2012 xj

You don’t have to have the dinner which is £195 a head (book in advance) you can just join us for drinks – we will be playing in the Lounge Bar from 10pm!

We have prepared a stonking swinging version of Auld Lang Syne for midnight and are lookng forward to giving our Christmas repertoire an airing before then; this Saturday 26th November we will be playing for the switching on of the Christmas lights in Nottingham from 4-5pm and we are playing one of the final shows before Santa comes at the National Theatre on the 20th December.

Details of these gigs and more are listed on my MySpace - I hope to see you for a mulled wine soon! xj

It’s for a great cause and tickets are on sale in advance here.  A £5 arm band will give you open access to all the events at venues across the town centre until midnight.

We were joined by my mum and my 85 year old Auntie Jean (my late father’s sister, after whom I am named) along with a friend of Will’s who has lived on the island for almost 15 years.  Although it was hurricane season, come rain come shine, great fun was had by all.

Since our return, there has been plenty of jazz to keep me occupied not least the Nottingham Proms in the Park which was huge and where I was lucky enough to share the stage with local super swinging group the Bob Hudson trio; there is a snippet of the action with Geoff Pearson on double bass and Ian Beestin on drums on my YouTube Channel,

I will add more when I have time.

They also joined us the following day for our reception with friends and family in Nottingham, as you might imagine I couldn’t help myself and ended up joining in in my wedding dress…

For all the disappointments and challenges life throws at us, the highs are always born from love.  I am extremely lucky to have found a man who loves me back and also to have music in my heart – as my good friend and pianist Paul Weinreb said to me recently, “some people go though tragedies in their life and have nothing to take them out of it – we have music.”   And I know I will always want to share that.

So, it’s back to the grindstone; gigs and functions and of course the process of changing my name to Jeanie O’Shea – I like it, rather like Tessie O’Shea huh?  Still I’m afraid it is too much of a palaver to change it on Amazon, iTunes and everywhere else, so for music purposes I will remain a Barton, at least for the time being.

Love and health to all xx

This Sunday the 22nd May is the Crouch End Festival where I have been asked to perform for a second year running by the lovely Mari Wilson, along side herself, other artists and ‘celebs’ including the marvelous Jean Toussaint.  We will take to the stage in Priory Park at 1pm after the fun run.

On Thursday the 7th July our quartet are back in the Birmingham Jazz Festival for the 3rd year running at the Colemore Bar and Grill in the City Centre.  More dates will be confirmed soon so do keep track of all our outings on MySpace.

Call the venue on 020 8455 3501 or text/ring the owner Denis on 07831 772852 to book. You can also pay online via PayPal to info[at]jeaniebarton.com simply follow this link – please include a note to confirm how many tickets/the type of tickets you are purchasing plus any other information you think I might need and I will make sure they are on the door for you to collect on the night.

We have plenty of other shows both before and after this one so I hope to see you soon!

Yeh! Yeh! xj

This coming Wednesday the 16th we’re playing at the Mill Hill Jazz Club and on Monday the 21st we’re back again at  The National Theatre.  Also last long our bebop residency has an online presence on Facebook – look up The Jazz Downstairs at The King’s Head and invite your friends!

BTW. If you’re a Midlander keep a look out for a flurry of dates coming up at great venues in Nottinghamshire – check this link for details of four dates between the 19th and 26th of May. Xj

I’ve posted the last 45 mins of the concert on Vimeo too – it’s a really nice jive so I hope to see you there in the New Year! Xj