A music tale

Jazz Christmas by Al Gromer Khan portrays the attitude to life in the late sixties in and around Ronnie Scott´s Jazz Club in Jack Kerouac style. The story tells of love and jazz, sex and ecstasy and death in Soho. A young musician wins the trust and the friendship of a famous jazz saxophonist and gets to listen to many of the classical jazz players at close range. He experiences traumatic and ludicrous, painful and romantic situations. “Some of my best friends are blues”. (Ronnie Scott)

Recommended by JAZZTHETIK Magazine, Berlin. “Jazz fans will want to hear this story not only at Christmas, it draws a loving picture of long gone era.”

The story takes place at “Europe´s leading jazz club” (ever so humble, them Brits – are they not?), at Ronnie Scotts. A young musician gets under the spell of tenor legend Ben Webster and as a result experiences a number of adventures. It is told laconicly and with a touch of melancholy. (…) Besides the funny plot Gromer Khan portrays the jazz greats Webster and Ronnie Scott lovingly. Scott who died in 1996 used to announce the bands at the club himself, celebrating the high art of dry British humour. The author subtly points out that Ben Webster already has his best years behind him. The protagonist ends up in a jazz diva´s bed. Remarkably, the sex scenes by Gromer Khan are never embarrassing – he is saved by his laconic humour and his deep love for music. And so he experiences true climactic jazz shows at the club. “This performance was IT – the true path where it´s at, and that one constantly keeps forgetting.”

“… an intense listening pleasure …, written like a jazz ballad, in between galloping improvisation and wailing blues.“ Dr Ulrich Sonnenschein Radio H2 Hessischer Rundfunk, Frankfurt