Hello, as promised here is a story told to me by my Dad in Armley this weekend...

Warning: Contains references to drug taking.

One night many moons ago my Dad was in the Royal park pub, tripping. Mathew approached him and enquired wether he had any LSD. As it happens he did, Matthew took one and my Dad took another for good measure. Half an hour later and as the pub was kicking out, the LSD was kicking in. "I'm off into town, are you coming?" says Matthew. "Okay".

Strolling into town, the LSD coming on strong, the two trippers amble their way, as they approach the University they notice a Police car approaching, slowly, deliberately. "Uh oh!", gotta try and keep a straight face, act normal, etc.

Sure enough, and with uncanny inevitability, the Police car pulls up beside them. "Alright Xero?" asks one of the scuffers, "Where you off to?".

"Just into town." Matthew responds, my Dad is finding it very difficult to act normal under the circumstances and unease sets in.

"Jump in Lads, we'll give you a lift." Say the police. Who could resist such an invitation? The two trippers climb into the back seat.

The police car accelerates away at breakneck speed, the police switch on the lights, sirens, and hurtle round the inner ring road like the clappers, swerving through traffic. Eventually delivering the two dazed trippers to their desired location.

"There you go lads, have a good night".

As the police sped on their merry way, I am sure the phrase "Fuckinell!" was utilised.

Mathew will always be remembered by every one who ever met him at Vivas Wine Bar. The music lives on

OK, this is them, in relaxed mood.

And no, the humble city of Gent is not about to forget Xero Slingsby. Well..not as long as I am around. Thank you, Solomon, for keeping the spirit alive. For intresting, special, unusual things about Gent, you can visit http://www.gentblogt.be.
I edit on this great weblog under the name of "eve".

Thanks again (the pic, that's me and my kid)

here's a photo of a very young matthew down a pothole, courtesy carol

Matthew almost lived in our tiny flat in the Mid 70's.
He was only about 19 yrs old then, but quite mad.
My present husband has known Matthew since birth: we used to go sailing on his Dad's yacht. You wouldn't expect his Dad to have a yacht would you? It was a large catamaran and we sailed it off Kirkcudbright in Scotland.
He used to call me and my X husband 'Teddy and Dolly' or sometimes 'The Tringhams'.
We had a sort of roving Folk Band: David (Teddy) would hire a van and we would chuck an old mattress in the back, fling in the instruments, fill it full of pals and end up God knows where.
We never stopped laughing:I can still see Matthew's demonic leer. He played the boran and penny whistle in those days, this was before he went to the Music College that he disliked so much. His music came from within. Everything he touched he could play. I remember him wanting to play my husbands double bass. He was like a natural, even though he had never played one before.
Carol Whalley.

Hey you,

what is it all about, back your pardon, my English isn't very well.
I did't hear about Xero for a long time, I met him, Louis aund Gene nearly 20 years ago, when they played in an pub in Oberammergau, I have seen them three or four times and it was a grat moment in my career as one of the audience, and I've seen a lot of bands.
Now I was searching for the CD, cause I've only this album on venyl and now I found this side, so what ist your story?

Greartings Ralf

i'd forgotten this one till seeing an entry on the leeds jazz forum about hecklers....
when we booked xero slingsby and the works to play the leeds uni bar, it was a regular wednesday night gig...only trouble being that there were always circles of drunk rugby players on the piss after that arvo's game.
inevitably, they would fail to grasp the complexities of xero's tunes and as the night wore on they would become louder and ever more insulting. after copping it for a while eventually xero put down his saxophone on it's stand, mid-tune and while louis and gene kept playing, he walked over to the table of twenty or so drunk rugby players and offered the lot of em outside if they couldn't shut the fuck up....of course we ushered him back on stage and the gig continued - though the hecklers discovered a newfound respect for someone who actually had the temerity to stand up to them.
a few weeks later and they were recognising the tunes and having a great time....xero was having a piss in the interval one night and heard a slurred voice beside him at the urinal.
" you know you're fucking amazing mate " and xero was amazed to see the main culprit from that first week - the big beefy guy with whom he had very nearly come to blows.
" you know you're pissing on your shoes " replied xero, quick as a flash, as always.

It's a joy to see this site up - and the myspace page.

I loved this band. They turned me on to jazz and opened my ears up.

I grew up watching them dozens of times in The Adelphi and in the old Trades Club in Leeds.

They nearly always had some kind of shenanigans happening on stage - I'll never forget the fun they had. 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow' with that bit of wooden cloud sculpture Louis held over Xero's head. He'd pull a string and the sun would come peeping out of one side - and then another string and the lightening would pop out as the solo got more angst. Heheh. And remember the dancing? And the gig as Matthew wandered out playing away - then John slowly packed up and left and Louis then edged out to the door still playing his double bass, leaving us gagging for more.

Great days. Unforgettable. And now less so. Many thanks

with great, thrilling enthusiasm I discovered the website about Xero Slingsby ! so exiting to read all that stuff !

I saw this band playing for at least 30 times in Ghent, where I live, and the only recordings I have is a completely scratched album that I bought way back in the eighties. he was the reason I started to listen to jazz and play saxophone myself.

desperately seeking: does anyone knows where I can buy/order cd's?

pascal