Picture, if you will, a small village school on a Sunday morning in East Lancashire, England. As the peels of the church bells fade, the sounds of jazz are emerging from the school hall. It's 30 years on and The Panama Jazz Band are alive and well, providing England (and now the USA) with good swinging traditional jazz.

Although the personnel has changed, with past members taking their dedication as far afield as Brisbane and San Francisco, the philosophy hasn't; to play entertaining jazz faithful to the traditional concept. A band doesn't have to play loud and fast; that's too easy.

Indeed the Panama is noted for its injection of dynamics into its performances, from the slow blues to the uptempo rousers. The music is drawn from many sources: Oliver, Armstrong, Ellington, Waller and Morton, through to the popular songs of the thirties and forties.

The Panama Jazz Band has never pigeon-holed its repertoire to the exclusion of a good song, whatever its origin. This is the first album for the Panama Jazz Band. We were keen to get it right, the policy being to arrange the times well, but to retain the spontaneity that is the essence of jazz, and were chosen to reflect the band's varied repertoire and tight style of ensemble work.

Above all folks, humour is paramount in the Panama Jazz Band's outlook. We had a few frustrating moments in that school hall but mostly a lot of fun. And that's what it's all about.

Our thanks to Pattie, Colin, Gary, Len and Cedric for their relentless enthusiasm over the years and to George H. Buck, Jr. for his support.