Thanks to all who came to our Charity Concert

What a fabulous night we had!

We are thrilled to report that we raised £728.99 for Thames Valley & Chiltern Air Ambulance Trust, Cancer Research UK, Help for Heroes, Alzheimers Research UK and The Epilepsy Society.

A massive thank you to everyone who came and donated to such worthy charities.

St Marks Summer Fair

Today we met Peppa Pig at St Marks Summer Fair. 

My goodness the heavens fell during the full 2 hours of playing we did at this event. We even had thunder and lightning. 

Despite this, we raised £10.21 for Help for Heroes and St Marks raised £1745 for their church funds

Special thanks to Prudence Sharp for standing in, as Karen was unable to be with us.

Jordans village fete

We had a great time today at the Jordan's village fete. The sun shone and the people came.  We raised £7.67 for Help for Heroes. Thanks you if you threw a few pennies in the hat.

Help for Heroes at Henley Banstand

Despite the weather we loved playing on the Henley Bandstand today. 

It was bitingly cold and the wind was our enemy as our stands fell over, our papers flew and our boaters went spinning! Sadly, as you can see our largest audience that day were the ducks, however that said we still raised a handsome figure of £42.88 for Help the Heroes.

Supporting the pets as therapy sponsored walk at Black Park

Today we were thrilled to raise £55.90 for the Pets as Therapy charity through our playing. 

The final amount raised from the walk has yet to be announced.

It was one of the hottest days that we have had this year and Black Park's car park was full. The wardens had to shut the gate and folk were parking on the dual carriageway in order to enjoy a walk in the woods that day. I have never seen the park so busy.

Thanks to all who came along and enjoyed the day.

Back in the studio

We decided to produce another CD partly as a leaving gift to longterm group member Mike Anderson, who won't be able to play with us quite as often now, as he is relocating with his family to the beautiful south coast.

We played and recorded arrangements Mike had produced for our quartet during the 3 years he has been with Bass-ically Saxes. 

As always, our studio engineer Jeff (left) was very patient! Our thanks to him and all the team at Room 2 Studios in Maidenhead.

We hope that Mike is especially pleased with the final recordings and we can't wait to have you back whenever you can join us. xx 

Fun in the park

We love playing in Black Park and this Sunday was no exception as new band member Kerry Chivers joined us.

Thanks to all who stopped to listen and helped make it such a fun day.

Carols in Black Park

We had a lovely time today, playing Christmas carols in Black Park.

Thank you to Sue, John and Simon for joining us on the day. 

The weather remained dry but it was very cold. A massive thank you to the families who stopped to listen - we are very grateful for your support, which helped us to raise £83.82 for Help for Heroes on THE quietest day of the year at Black Park.

On Friday (7th December) we also had great fun playing at the

Bourne End Fun Night where we raised £112.79

for the Bucks/Berks/Oxon Air Ambulance Trust

on a very cold and bleak midwinter night!

Berets and Onion Strings

What a fun night at The Bourne End Twinning Association Annual dinner.

We had a distinguished guest in the audience that night - The Right Honorable Dominic Grieve! (see over Rob's left shoulder). 

On this night we provided a quiz and we had a french theme running through our quiz as Bourne End is twinned with Sur De Octeville. It was a very successful and enjoyable evening. Michael arranged most of the 'french themed' repertoire that we played that night.

Supporting The British Heart Foundation at Black Park

We had a great time today (Sunday 14th October 2012) where it remained dry and sunny at Black Park where the wonderful families who came and listened to us, helped us to raise £82.02 for the British Heart Foundation.

Wow - a message from The Queen

We were so pleased and proud to receive this wonderful Diamond Jubilee message from The Queen:

We're singin' in the rain

...just singin' (and playing) in the rain!

Today's London Funeral Exhibition at the Chiltern Burial Ground was a very wet affair, which sadly kept the crowds away.

We still did a little horsing around though!

Hedsor Fair

Supporting St Nicholas Church at its annual fundraiser, Hedsor Fair.

The weather was on our side today; glorious warm sunshine and just what the weather should be like in June!

Henley Regatta 2012

Just 5 days after the Queen and Prince Philip were on-board the beautiful 'Alaska' 1883 Thames Steamer - Bass-ically Saxes climbed aboard with our sponsors space-pod for the best seats on the Thames to view the world famous Henley Regatta.



About Henley Regatta

Henley Regatta was first held in 1839 and has been held annually ever since, except during the two World Wars. Originally staged by the Mayor and people of Henley as a public attraction with a fair and other amusements, the emphasis rapidly changed so that competitive amateur rowing became its main purpose.

The 1839 Regatta took place on a single afternoon but proved so popular with oarsmen that the racing lasted for two days from 1840. In 1886 the Regatta was extended to three days and to four in 1906. Since 1928 its increased popularity meant entries exceeded the permitted numbers in several events, and so Qualifying Races are now held in the week before the Regatta to reduce the number of entries to the permitted maximum.

In 1986 the Regatta was extended to five days, with an increase in the maximum entry for certain events.

Thanks to space-pod for a wonderful day and also for all of your ongoing support for Bass-ically Saxes.

Here are a few pics from a lovely day:

More photos from the day on our sponsors blog: CLICK HERE >

Cherry Pie Fair

The Cherry pie Fair was held at the Seer Green Church of England Combined School.

Despite the diverse british weather during June, the rain held off and the sun shone at this event. It was very well attended and everyone who came enjoyed themselves.

Playing for the crowds at the Diamond Jubilee

What a fantastic time we had, playing for young and old at four separate events over the Diamond Jubilee weekend. 

There were even a few celebrities present - see if you can spot them on the pictures below (one of them is the real deal - we were thrilled that England cricket captain, Andrew Strauss could join us for a while).

Thanks to all who attended and made the celebrations such good fun:

STREET PARTY in MAIDENHEAD

Saturday, 2nd June from 12 noon - 4pm

SAPPERS FIELD, BOURNE END JUBILEE STREET PARTY/PICNIC

Sunday, 3rd June from 12.30 - 1.30pm & 4 - 5pm

The Pavilion Cricket Ground, LITTLE MARLOW - Residents Diamond Jubilee Lunch

Sunday, 3rd June from 2.15 - 3.15pm

JUBILEE LUNCH Organised by the Bourne End (Bucks) Community Association

on the Recreation Ground (off Furlong Road)

Tuesday, 5th June from 12 noon - 4.30pm

Bourne End Jubilee Party

Despite the wet and cold conditions this afternoon, all those who came along, soon got into the british spirit and sang along to our special selection of well-known pieces.

Thanks to all who came and, like us had a great time.

New 2012 dates added

We're thrilled to report that 2012 is shaping up to be a busy year for bass-ically Saxes.

View the dates and place where you can see us at: http://bass-icallysaxes.blogspot.com/p/see-us.html

We hope to see you at an event near you.

Not quite Abbey Road - but it's a start!

We really loved our first experience in a professional recording studio when we visited Jeff Cooper at Room2Studio, part of the Denmark Street Studios in Maidenhead.

It was a great day and we hope to have a CD available soon...

Ian Waite loves Bass-ically Saxes

Thanks to Ian Waite for his kind message.

Ian is probably best known for his role as one of the professional dancers on the BBC's hit show Strictly Come Dancing. Having appeared in six out of the seven series aired, he has built up a following of dedicated fans and has become a highly respected and recognisable figure and personality in the world of dance.

See Ian's website at www.ian-waite.com