Concorde's Cole Mathieson Booked - and he hopes to get writer's cramp for charity!
| Published: 14th February 2008 16:17 |
Cole Mathieson is going to "tell all" about the rise and rise of his legendary Concorde Club, which he has developed into the South's premier jazz club and a leading entertainment venue.
He has been persuaded to write a book about the 50 years of the Concorde, revealing the hurdles he has had to clear on the way to making the club a Mecca for jazz fans and musicians. Cole, a naturally modest and unassuming man, was reluctant to write the book until he was shown how he can help boost the funds of the Wessex Cancer Trust. Famous throughout Hampshire for his money-raising charity work, Cole decided to go ahead on the understanding that a £1 donation for every book that he signs will go to the Trust. The slogan among members at the Concorde is: 'Let's give Cole writer's cramp!'
And, through audiences past & present, he is seeking help to aid him with his memoirs. A website has been set up at www.concordebook.co.uk where anybody with special memories of the Concorde can post their contributions.
"I started the club in 1957 at the Bassett Hotel in Burgess Road, Southampton," Cole said, "we gradually built up a following and the Bassett was a launching pad for many fine jazz and rock bands. Among the acts I will be recalling in the book will be the likes of Manfred Mann, Cream, Slade, Shakin' Stevens, Joe Cocker, Rod Stewart, Ginger Baker and a young lad called Reg Dwight, who later became rather better known as Elton John."
The club relocated to an old school in North Stoneham Lane, just off the M27 motorway in Eastleigh in 1970, and has developed into a stunning entertainment and leisure complex, including the Ellington Lodge Hotel and the Moldy Fig wine bar.
"It has been a long but rewarding process," said Cole. "As a jazz fan, I am proud that the club is even longer established than the famous Ronnie Scott's club in London. We have had the cream of international and British jazz musicians playing at the Concorde, and it's a credit to the club that they always want to come back."
Among the veritable giants of jazz who have played at the Concorde are Ben Webster, Coleman Hawkins, Buck Clayton, Bud Freeman, Maynard Ferguson, Sonny Stitt, and leading British players of the calibre of Humphrey Lyttelton, Sir John Dankworth and Dame Cleo Laine, Kenny Baker, Chris Barber, Tubby Hayes, legendary Nat Gonella, plus modern masters such as Alan Barnes, Sammy Rimington, Jamie Cullum, and stunning song birds Clare Teal and Stacey Kent.
Humphrey Lyttelton, who will be providing an introduction to the book, said: "The Concorde club represents a post-war history of jazz. I first played for Cole back when the club was based in a Southampton pub and throughout all the years I have known him he has remained the same unflappable character, looking more and more like the captain of a posh golf club. What he has done for jazz is inestimable."
Cole is working on the book - due to be published in the spring - with experienced Wessex-based writer Norman Giller, a sports historian and jazz disciple (& Concorde regular!) who has written 78 books to date.
Anybody ordering the book pre-publication can get it at the special price of £15, with £1 being donated to the Wessex Cancer Trust if they get Cole to sign it. Full details are on the website.
"The donation will be made regardless," Norman said. "But we just want Cole to have to sign his name as many times as possible. Let's give him writer's cramp!"
If you would like to add your memories to the memoirs then visit www.concordebook.co.uk
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