On Thursday
20th September 2007, Jacky Paice hosted her second fabulously unique
and intimate rock ‘n’ roll charity evening of dinner and musical
entertainment.
The Sunflower Jam 2007 at The Porchester Halls, London W2 in aid of
the Complementary Therapy Team working within cancer services at UCLH
who are building the bridge between traditional and complementary
fields of medicine - was an amazing evening featuring an incredible one
off line up of musicians in an intimate atmosphere and was a resounding
success, raising a substantial amount of money for the charity and
awareness for the wonderful work of The Sam Buxton Sunflower Healing Trust which is supported by HRH The Prince’s Foundation for Integrated Health. BBC 24 were also there to interview guests and capture the event which was featured on their entertainment programme.
As celebrities including familiar faces, Kathy Lette, Frida from
ABBA, Damon Hill, Sinead Cusack and Sir John Mortimer arrived with the
dinner guests, fans and photographers gathered outside the venue.
The evening started with a Champagne Reception on the Grand Staircase sponsored by The Crooked Billet Restaurant,
the mood was enhanced by the attendance of beautiful belly dancers as
guests made their way in to the main hall, past display boards
explaining the support given to patients, families and staff by the
therapists involved with The Sam Buxton Sunflower Healing Trust.
In the glitzy Moroccan style hall – transformed by Timothy Dray, the
evening heated up quickly as guests watched the tantalisingly gorgeous
Mia Serra and the Marshalla Belly Dance Company performing as drinks
were served. Paul Clerehugh of The Crooked Billet's delicious culinary
delights for the evening were brought to the table while Organic Jam
fed the guests ears with funky ethnic beats. Guests were then teased in
to buying raffle tickets and warmed up generally for the rest of the
evening.... another dance by the girls, the auction and the band.
Angie
Buxton King and Graham King were next up, as co-directors of The Sam
Buxton Sunflower Healing Trust and they explained the work of the
charity, thanked everyone for their involvement and introduced a short
but very moving documentary featuring some of the children and families
who had received treatment this past year (a couple of whom were at the
dinner) and some of the Doctors including Dr Maria Michelagnoli,
Consultant Paediatric/Adolescent Oncologist at UCLH, who from a medical
angle, endorsed the belief that healing is an integral part of the
services that patients in the ward receive and that complementary
therapies are not just a luxury but an essential part of the patient
experience. Their speeches and the film were received with rapturous
but respectful applause in the room.
The auction featuring rare memorabilia and a raffle were next on the
agenda and auctioneer of the evening, Henry Wyndham, chairman of
Sotheby’s, was introduced and encouraged by the cheerful and witty
compere for the evening Jeremy Irons and between them, with some
incredible lots, including: a Stella McCartney goodie bag, a signed
Fender telecaster Status Quo guitar, a Music Man Sub guitar signed by
all current members of Deep Purple and former member Jon Lord with the
lyrics to Smoke On The Water hand written by Ian Gillan, an Ian Paice
drum head signed by all the artists, Roadie for a day with Status Quo,
a Yamaha RGX A2 guitar signed by all the artists on the night, a signed
Paul McCartney book, a signed Oasis disc, Ian Paices Silver Sparkle
drum kit, a signed ACDC LP vinyl box set, a signed snare drum and some
statues that were donated by a guest on the evening. Guests were
tempted to part with their money and purchase pieces of rock n roll
history including bidding in advance of it even being done... for the
painting to be created later on that night of the band playing by
painter Craig Kilford as part of his ongoing project - 'Its only rock n
roll (and I paint it)'
Kathy Lette and Jeremy Irons then drew the tickets for the raffle
with some wonderful prizes kindly donated by supporters of the event.
Finally, before the music began Jacky was joined on stage by Don
Bernsteine on behalf of The Hard Rock Café who presented her with a
cheque for £30,000.00.
An
intimate evening of Rock n Roll was promised and delivered and what a
band! With performances from Status Quo, Ian Paice, Jon Lord, Steve
White, Gary Moore, Roger Glover, Linda Lewis, Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens, Nick
Fyffe, Margo Buchanan, Murray Gould, Steve Balsamo, Phil Manzanera,
Aitch McRobbie and Ray Cooper. Band and guest artists made light work
of new renditions of their own and other's songs such as She’s a Woman
(The Beatles), My Baby Just Cares (Nina Simone), Alright Now (Free),
Red House (Jimi Hendrix) Walking by Myself (Gary Moore) and Quo
classics Down Down, Caroline and Rocking All Over The World amongst
others and had the guests dancing between tables and at the front as
well known tunes filled the hall.
As carriages arrived, guests left with happy faces and some great
memories of a truly spectacular one off night, already wondering what
next years might entail and how it could possibly top the night they
had just enjoyed.
The event was recorded for posterity, by photographer Fin Costello who donated some of his signed historic rock n roll photos for the auction and whose pictures are featured on this website