A big thank you this time around to Norma Winstone & Chris Biscoe who have generously donated signed copies of their latest releases, plus Seattle's Light In The Attic label for sending over their new Gabor Szabo reissue, and to Harkit Records for providing us with the splendid John Dankworth at Newport disc. Cheers guys!

All the competitions are free to enter- all you have to do is send us an email (each competition has its own dedicated email address) with your name and full postal address and you're entered. And if you haven't got email just drop us a line telling us which competitions you want to enter. You can enter all of them if you want (one entry per competition per person). Send postal entries to: Competitions, The Bebop Shop, 14 Heddington Way, West Knighton, Leicester, LE2 6HF, United Kingdom. Overseas entries welcome.

Good luck to everyone. And if you're not fortunate to win the album you'd really like then don't forget to visit us again soon to buy it from our store and to try your luck in our next batch of compos.

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WIN A SIGNED NORMA WINSTONE CD- STORIES YET TO TELL (ECM)
The return of the Grammy-nominated, Academie Du Jazz Prize-winning trio that gave us “Distances”, with another revelatory programme. As both singer and lyricist Norma has few contemporary peers: her words seem to float up from the music’s expressive core. And now she has a trio united by a profound feeling for song. The stark instrumentation – voice, piano, bass clarinet/soprano sax - seems never to limit their repertoire, but to encourage the players to explore widely, and to make musical use of the available space.

Jazz ballads find their place alongside adaptations of folk songs, and ‘chamber’ pieces influenced by classical or contemporary composition. Textures, colours and rhythms may be drawn from scattered, surprising sources, and even the hypnotic lulling of an Armenian cradle song has a role to play as Norma cross-references Christina Rosetti nursery rhymes with Tigran Mansurian’s adaptation of Komitas!

"This must rank amongst the most perfect song cycles in jazz...This is a magnificent record" (Duncan Henning - Jazzwise)

To enter send an email to normawinstonecompo@thebebopshop.com   Closing date for entries is 30th November 2010.
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WIN A SIGNED CHRIS BISCOE CD- PROFILES OF MINGUS (TRIO RECORDS)
Taking as its theme Charles Mingus's musical portraits of friends, enemies, lovers, cats and fellow musicians, Profiles of Mingus explores nine of his tunes with groups varying from septet with four horns through sextet and quintet to a quartet of trumpet, sax and two drummers. The CD is completed by four solo sketches. Larry Bartley and Stu Butterfield played on the 2008 CD Gone in the Air - The Music of Eric Dolphy (Trio TR578) by Chris Biscoe, and again demonstrate the dynamism and swing which were universally praised on that record.

With Kenny Wheeler, Henry Lowther is probably the UK 's best loved trumpeter, respected by musicians of all generations for the clarity of his sound and line and an approach of unforced originality. Award winning pianist and composer Kate Williams plays with unusual economy and great clarity, and as well as her band solos contributes a lovely unaccompanied improvisation inspired by Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.

Trevor Mires is a hugely talented young trombonist, recently heard with Randy Brecker, who brings to the band a harmonic approach which contrasts with Henry and Chris but meshes perfectly in group improvisation. Pete Hurt has partnered Chris Biscoe in many bands, most notably the George Russell Living Time Orchestra, as well as being featured with Carla Bley, Andy Sheppard and Abdullah Ibrahim, and plays with great lyricism and swing. Paul Clarvis is at home in in most areas of music, from Orchestra Mahatma to Harrison Birtwhistle via Liam Noble and Starry Starry Nights.  The doyen of British bass players, Dave Green, contributes a solo improvisation born of his admiration for Charles Mingus, the most creative and influential composer/bassist/band  leader of his generation.

"If only those sanctioned ‘ghost’ ensembles, the Mingus Big Band and Orchestra, would play his music with this level of spontaneity, soul and sneer!" (Philip Clark - The Wire)

"Biscoe's sparkling arrangements and splendid playing vividly capture Mingus's sprawling, rumbustious energy, while giving the music a fresh twist" (Kenny Mathieson - The Scotsman)

To enter send an email to chrisbiscoecompo@thebebopshop.com   Closing date for entries is 30th November 2010.
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WIN A GABOR SZABO CD- JAZZ RAGA (LIGHT IN THE ATTIC)
Light in the Attic's latest release is this lost classic from the innovative Hungarian-born jazz musician Gabor Szabo. A mesmerizing piece of genre-bending jazz, Jazz Raga stands as a testament to Szabo's experimental brilliance. It is a record stuffed with myriad styles, a cross-section of global influences that include jazz, rock and psychedelic folk tinged with sitars, a Latin-influenced backbeat (courtesy of session drummer Bernard Purdie, whose play here is sterling), as well as traditional European sounds. It is a hypnotic blend, a rich musical fusion crafted by a master artisan. Szabo’s guitar work on Jazz Raga is among the best of his career, a sublime performance in which Szabo’s free runs, discordant chords and lilting solos produce a distinct, engrossing sound. From the blissed-out “Walking On Nails” to the sitar-heavy “Mizrab” to the inspired cover of “Paint It Black,” it is clear why Jazz Raga has, in the decades since its release, become an important and influential work for scores of musicians fortunate enough to come across its path. 

To enter send an email to gaborszabocompo@thebebopshop.com   Closing date for entries is 30th November 2010.
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WIN A JOHN DANKWORTH CD- NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL 1959 (HARKIT)
There can be no more fitting tribute to the supreme talent that was Sir John Dankworth who died on February 6th 2010. Previously unreleased on CD, this wondrous collection features the band’s first appearance at the world-famous Newport Jazz Festival on a hot July evening in 1959. As a special bonus, we are including on this rush-release, the original soundtrack score for one of John Dankworth’s first film music commissions in 1960—the hard-hitting thriller “The Criminal” (U.S. title “The Concrete Jungle”). The original sleeve notes for both these releases by Nat Hentoff and Tony Barrow respectively are supplemented by a new in-depth essay by British music writer Simon Spillett. Fully illustrated 8 page colour booklet.

To enter send an email to johndankworthcompo@thebebopshop.com   Closing date for entries is 30th November 2010.

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The latest Winners are:
Stan Tracey CD won by Jeremy Baker, Farnborough  
Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan CD won by Paul Croucher, Crawley
Neil Cowley Trio CD won by Hassni Malik, Brighton

Congratulations to our lucky winners.