APPLAUSE IS the fuel that makes British singer Georgie Fame run and, like Li’l Abner, sleep well. Without it, he confesses, a performance is "bloody awful." With it, he belts ’em out as if he’s the No ...

Alan Skidmore is one of the finest saxophonists to come out of the United Kingdom, Europe or indeed anywhere. In fact, it was hearing Skidmore's tenor solo on “Have You Heard?" from John Mayall's ...