After the last newsletter, it is a relief to see a much shorter Vale List.

The Halls Gap Jazz Festival was a big success this year. A record number of bands were registered with a good range of styles represented.

One highlight of the festival was the delightful vocalist Marlene Richards from Adelaide.

I purchased a CD from her with backing from the best of Adelaide musicians including Bob Jeffrey on tenor sax, a great player.

I played a gig with Marlene on the Sunday night at the Mountain Grand. She is a delight to work with and has a great sense of humour.

One person who was sighted at one of the venues was Frank Gow, who has stopped playing. Frank was well known around teh Melbourne scene for his rendition of Fats Waller songs and also for his great sense of humour, which we all need as we get older.

Alex Hutchinson has just had a trip to China and returned with a few funny stories.

He sat in at a Jazz Club in Shanghai with a quartet by an excellent American tenor sax player named Eric Wyatt.

We don't realise what we have here in Australia until you hear what goes on in the rest of the world.

Still no contact from any of you regarding the Newsletter. There must be a lot of funny and interesting stories from the past that others would be interested in hearing. I have read the current issue of 'Jazz Line' magazine and was impressed with the input of articles from people who also attend the Fab Fifties meetings. C'mon, get off your butts and send me some articles for your newsletter.