Issue #9 - July 2024

Benoit's World News

Good day,

Terrifying tales they are, but I also have fantastic news about fantastic music... more about this later. Many things have happened since I wrote last so I'll keep the introduction short and sweet...

Weather forecast

We've had a nice summer with 3 days of sunshine in June. I'm now looking forward to next summer.

Economy

Experts agree that my personal deficit is showing the biggest growth adjusted for inflation since UK records began in 1998. The forecast looks steady for the near and medium term.

Limited-Edition CD Updates

I wish to thank all the lovely people have pre-ordered my new CD and made this possible: you have helped me greatly and I am very grateful. I was planning to write to you all one by one, but I never find the time, please excuse me.

The good news is that I am currently producing artwork and design to send it to press. I hope to get the CDs manufactured by the end of the month/early august. I'll sign them all as a x/100 limited edition as promised.

The bad news is that I still need a few more pre-orders to brake even.

For those that don't know about this album:
I am doing a limited run of 100 copies, signed and numbered just for you. The manufacturing cost per unit for a small run is so high that I need to sell another 10 of them to break even on the duplication costs. So, I have created a pre-order album page for you to register your interest. I am sending it to press in July anyway as I don't want to keep people that bought it waiting, but I have not made any money so far, hopefully with your help it will get better.

No more Ronnie Scotts... for now

That's it, you heard me right. Ronnie Scotts will close its doors for a complete refurbishment upstairs and downstairs. So this sunday will be our last show after a run of 10 years with 6 to 8 shows a year, both upstairs and downstairs. Iunfortunately it is sold out as always so if you have missed it you can book to see us in Brighton/hove or hastings instead.

This is what the management sent me:

To be honest, the refurbishment is very welcome, and the upstairs venue should now be so much better, with sitting, a good view and good sound for everyone, plus a decent stage and PA system for us apparently. But when it comes to building work, as you know, it always cost at least double the estimate and takes twice as long as planned...

And if they find the remains of dead jazz musicians dating from the middle of last century, they'll have to call the archaeologists, historians and conservation people to look for treasures, false teeth, combes and other important clues and artefacts. If this happens, as it is often the case in London, it may take years before we can perform there again but lets be hopeful.

JohnJohn Records is dead.
Long live Fantastic Records!

I have created JohnJohn Records, my own little record label, in 1999 while I was a still a young computer genius running my own design agency called JohnJohn Ltd. I was an in-demand web developper / animator / graphic designer / project manager / producer, working for Ubisoft, EA Sports (Electronis Arts), BBC, Nickelodeon and many others that always paid too late and too little. I did it professionally day and night between 1994 and 2003, first in France, briefly in San Francisco, then London, and won awards for my work in the UK, Germany, USA and Japan. But it was obviously too easy for me. I got so successful and made so much money that I decided to give it all up to become a musician to experience hardship and rejection just for the kick of it... Jokes aside, after burning out during the Dot Com crash, becoming seriously ill for about a year losing everything as a result, I knew that if I continued like this I would be dead before i knew. So I gave it all up to train on the cheap to be a musician while working as a mechanic and ground crew on early 1930's DeHavilland biplanes to survive. In 2005 I got my first regular gig as a touring bass player in a blues band. The rest is history.

Until now, I have released 17 albums on JohnJohn Records, performed on most of them, and produced 14 of them. It was very ahead of it's time in 1999 and I got invited to lecture at the Westminster University in the music department as a result. But the technology moved faster than me, and now it is dated and irrelevant; therefore the website will be terminated by the end of July. The name had always been impossible to spell with a French accent anyway. Moreover, I need a fresh new venture for my music. For that I have created FANTASTIC RECORDS.

​https://fantasticrecords.bandcamp.com/​

In case you wonder why I have a Sci-Fi design, the music I love the most, from the 1920s-1960s period, was integrally part of popular culture, and so were Mickey mouse, comics, Sci-Fi etc, hence the connection. (I'm also a massive fan of original Godzilla and King Kong movies for their visionary and artistic merits). But the techno-space-robot-futuristic stuff is also relevant in the world we live in where the music industry is not about music anymore but about algorithms, feeds, bots, and AI. You could not make it up.

The idea is to showcase my music to the world using Bandcamp, which is the only good platform for artists, and to help some of my collaborators & musician friends or people I admire to promote their work to my audience, and hopefully to the world.

If you like what you see, please click the "FOLLOW" button on the right. It's free and it helps a lot.

The first addition is the debut album from Alexander Bryson, who has been playing piano regularly in my band for the last couple of years.

Fantastic Record of the month:

You'll find the album featured on the top of the page, you can't miss it.

This is what the Guardian says about it:

Alex Bryson is a leading British jazz pianist and recording artist signed to Hard Bop Records. He has featured regularly at internationally prestigious venues including Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club (UK) and Washington DC’s Blues Alley. Based in London (UK), Alex is a sought-after sideman performing with Grant Stewart, Chris Cheek, Alex Garnett, Steve Fishwick, Ossian Roberts and many others.

Just have a listen, you won't regret it... and you should buy a CD while the stock last.

Next concerts

From the author

That’s it folks, It's was a bit long but I hope it was good, or at least "somewhat good". For complaints and accolades please email me, I will respond.

A bientot. (French: meaning "See you soon")

Benoit Viellefon

Benoit Viellefon - St Matthews Gardens, St Leonards-on-sea, East Sussex TN38 0TT
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