■ The eagerly awaited new CD of Robert Farnon compositions and arrangements, featuring the flautist Jane Pickles is now scheduled for recording next January. Readers will recall that the original sessions planned for last summer were delayed. For more information see page 3 of JIM 155 (June 2003).

■ Chris Laurence is one of the most in-demand double bass players in the country, and his range encompasses classical, jazz and studio work. It is hardly surprising that he chose the music profession, because his grandmother was the internationally renowned harpist Marie Goosens, for many years a familiar member of the Robert Farnon Orchestra. The Goosens family was famous on the English musical scene, and their descendants seem to be keeping up the tradition. Chris’s father, Tony, is a pianist, and his brother, Patrick (also a double bassist) is a member of the London Symphony Orchestra. Whenever a major film score is recorded in London, there is a good chance that Chris will be there (he was on the soundtrack of Leaving Las Vegas) and he frequently tours with guitarist John Williams. ‘Musician’ (the magazine of the Musicians’ Union) recently asked Chris with whom he would most like to collaborate on a musical project. His reply was: Robert Farnon. (with thanks to Paul Lewis for supplying this information)

■ The talented British flautist Arthur Gleghorn gave a virtuoso performance of Robert Farnon’s arrangement of Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu in C Sharp Minor, on a Decca 78 (F 8885) recorded by the Kingsway Symphony Orchestra conducted by ‘Toots’ Camarata. Leonard Statkin recently revealed on television that Gleghorn had been featured in the 1946 film Deception, which boasted a fine score by Erich Wolfgang Korngold. In one scene an orchestra was rehearsing, and the conductor chided the flute player for making a mistake. The player (who was not at fault) was Arthur Gleghorn, who apparently played in the studio orchestra for a number of Hollywood film soundtracks around that time.

■ Marco Polo have recently deleted the CD of Robert Farnon compositions played by the Czecho-Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) conducted by Adrian Leaper (8223401) This was issued in 1992, so it has been in the catalogue for a longer time than most releases these days. In 1993 this album was awarded the prestigious Acadamie Charles Gros award in Paris. Fortunately all the compositions in this collection are available on other CDs, but if any members are anxious to get this particular CD please contact the RFS Record Service immediately – we only have a few copies left!

■ Several new Robert Farnon CDs are in the pipeline, so you can expect to read some good news in our next issue!