There was a little confusion regarding the
first concert of the season, Chris Pearce’s Frenchmen Street Jazz Band, as we
thought it would be a lunchtime gig and it ended up as an evening concert due
to the darts. We did try to spread the
word as far and wide as possible but the audience was perhaps not as full as it
might have been. However that made no
difference to the sheer enjoyment of this group, who played their socks off.
Next came Matt Palmer’s Millennium Eagle
Jazz Band and it is always a pleasure to hear Matt, who is one of the UK’s
brightest jazz talents. On 20 September
we heard Original Panama Jazz Band who had a good repertoire with numbers old
and new. They played with gusto and
skill, along with the odd joke, and time simply flew past. The last concert in September was Chris
Carmell’s Vintage Jazzmen with their 20’s style jazz.
The first band in October was the Savannah
Jazz Band (see picture below). Along
with a good programme they kept up a steady stream of humorous comments and
reminiscences. There was amazing mouth
organ playing by the reeds player, Bill Smith, which was absolute heaven.
On 11 October it was a delight 5to see
Carole Westwood, newly married, back on our stage. She was accompanied by a trio of musicians
(John Evans on saxophone, Robert Armstrong on drums and John Evans on
keyboard). There were several pieces
during the gig with a shoulder-twitching upbeat. By golly could that John Evans play.
On 17 October we welcomed Kevin Grenfell’s
Jazz Giants. This was good music with
everything from mood music to boogie woogie, all played with consummate
skill. There were jokes a plenty from
Kevin. What a programme. As always the audience showed their
appreciation with a standing ovation.
I could not help putting the following picture
in. On 17 October it was Heather’s
birthday. Heather is a regular supporter
and here she lead the way in the umbrella parade at a gallop.
