Issue #10 - October 2024

Benoit's World News

Bonjour

I did not write anything in august because it was too hot and wet. September was also too wet and too windy. In truth, I was chasing my tail, as always, trying to keep my band together and find some money somehow. I'm finally taking a bit of time to send my newsletter, packed with some good stuff, extra minerals and vitamins.

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Weather forecast

Oasis have announced a series of stadium gigs, they have put their brotherly differences aside as they surely ran out of money... in show biz "necessity is the mother of reunions". The tickets for their stadium shows are reaching astronomical prices to the dismay of their fans, and guess what? It will rain a lot! People will take their oversized umbrellas no doubt and ruin the view for others. But they'll be so happy because their idols will perform in their parkas. Who would have expected it?

If you are not the type that enjoys getting soaked and trampled upon for a meagre £400+ ticket; or that which enjoys queueing getting cold for hours in the in a deluge of biblical proportion (so national forecast say), and then standing for hours in the same condition looking at a tiny stage from afar; don't worry: you can always come to my gigs. They are only £20 at most, and it's always indoor, warm and dry, with musicians that are both articulate and not swearing. Besides, we'll bring a little sunshine to your life.

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Economy

It's not getting any better: inflation, bad weather, pessimism, Brexit etc: we pay more and get less for it. Some call it "Shrinkflation".
I had to sell my Gypsy Jazz guitar this month to get my head above the water. I bought it new in 2011, recorded all my albums with it, and played it on most of my gigs too. I'm rather sad but it went to a good home, purchased by a 78 Years old Country legend called Bill that is playing better than me (he plays like Lee Ritenour and Alvin Lee). Hopefully if people subscribe to my music I won't have to sell anymore instrument for a while.

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Jetsetting & becoming a Pop Idle.

In Japan, an "idol" is what they call a pop singer doubling as a heartthrob/sex kitten. In France, Johnny Halliday was "l'idole des jeunes" (the youth's idol), there was even Billy Idol for a while, I have the same leather jacket but the bleached hair style never suited me. For my case, it looks like I will become Idle from November, my wildest dream becoming true.

I've had a fair amount of gigs this summer and in September too, but they will come to a halt soon. We are doing an album launch at the Brunswick in Hove (Sussex) on thursday 10th October, followed by an other one in Sidmouth (Devon) on the 18th of October for my new CD "Benoit Viellefon & His Orchestra Live - Out of Dates". After that we are going to perform in India in Udaipour (Rajahstan) for a week before the calendar becomes empty. A great run, then curtain!

I do not have much booked for the future and I'll be spending a lot of money I don't have trying to release some new records instead (spoiler: the next one is about early 1920's jazz in New York). But nonetheless, I fell "real good" about our future as musicians. With the help of all the "how to become rich playing music on Youtube and Instagram" paid webinars ads I get bombarded with, I am extremely confident I will become a overnight millionaire by learning 4 chords and invest a fortune in paid-per-click advertising. I've tried such a scheme last month by the way: the click on Facebook ads cost between 15p and 40p depending on the keywords used, and the fee I get from Spotify for that stream is 0.0023p. You can do the maths as well as I did, I lost £150 in three days, made a return of less than £1 and gave it up. In fact, I'm thinking of removing all my music from all the streaming platforms. In the end it probably better to be idle than waste your life away only to lose money.... Please let me know your thoughts on the subject if you have any.

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Front page of National Jazz News

That's right, I'm a success!
If you want to be in the press these days you'd better be cast in Love Island, Strictly Come Dancing, or have a sex scandal, murder someone, or all four if you want to make sure people read it.

Nevertheless, I have been asked by "UK JAZZ NEWS" (Formerly known as "London Jazz News") to be interviewed for ​a very long article about me​ in their :Featured/Interview" section. Celebrity at last! They put it on the front page of their brand new website on the 28th of September.

Have a read, the journalist Jane Mann, included a lot of my secret lives’ stories in it. It's quite long as a result, but as you know, for some things the longer it is the better it gets.

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Fantastic Records:

If you read my last newsletter, you'll remember that I've set up a little label online to publish my own records. I've decided that since I had done the legwork to make this happen, I may as well help my friends who have great music but can't get their head around selling it.

​Fantasticrecords.co.uk is there, for now at least, to promote my creations, but also those of many of the fabulous musicians, composers, and performers who worked with me over the years. I am releasing about one artist/album a month. Those guys have huge amounts of talent, and as all great artists do, suffer a great deal. please give them a listen and if you like it, buy their music. You will earn extra points.

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Fantastic Record of the month:

You should listen to the "Basin Street Bawlers" first and only album. You can't find it anywhere else on the internet, or in the world, but after insisting long enough I manage to get it on Fantastic Records. Hurrah!

Peter Horsfall was the original trumpeter in my Orchestra from its inception in 2009. He was then a 21 year old Oxford graduate, and ended up recording a couple of albums and playing hundreds of gigs with me for about 6 years. He has since done so for big names in the music industry. He lived in my house for two years when he had love troubles and estate agents’ troubles, and during that time tough me a lot about music. Meanwhile, he started to work on his own band, The Basin Street Brawlers, made of some of the best musicians in the country: Martin Wheatley on guitar/banjo, Colin Good on piano, Ewan Bleach on sax/clarinet, Malcom Earle-Smith on Trombone, Dave Obrien on double bass and Mez Clough on drums. (Between them they have played for everybody you can think of, from the Pasadena Roof Orchestra to Van Morison). He later left me to become one of the founding members of the Kansas Smittys. That was a big loss for me! But we are still working together sometimes, when he's not busy playing with Jamie Cullum at the Royal Albert Hall. I bought this album twice, and I love it!

This is what the Sunday Times had to say about it:

One more thing: there are only 40 CDs left in the world, and it won't get reprinted, just buy it while you can!​

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Last concerts of 2024

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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.

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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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