30 March 2025 – Slide By Slide: It’s always good to see this band back at the White Eagle Club. They play a mixture of jazz, show songs, contemporary tunes and there is always plenty of humour. Leading is trombonist, trumpeter, vocalist Kevin Grenfell with Richard Leach on his trombone, Simon Smith on String Bass, Richard Hughes on piano and Steve Street on the drums. They opened with ‘Strike Up The Band’, followed by ‘Give Me A Kiss To Build A Dream On’, ‘Go To New Orleans’, ‘No Moon At All’, ‘My Little Suede Shoes’, ‘Sway’, ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down And Write Myself A Letter’, ‘When You’re Smiling’, ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’, ‘Tea for Two’, ‘Georgie Girl’, one of my favourites ‘St James’ Infirmary’, ‘Girl Of My Dreams’, ‘It’s A Sin To Tell A Lie’, ‘Blue Spanish Eyes’, ‘Jump, Jive And Wail’, ‘Blueberry Hill’ and finished, as always, with ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’. The audience was on it’s feet to give them a standing ovation, richly deserved. Looking forward to having them back again.
23 March 2025 – Original Panama Jazz Band: This Wirral-based Jazz band is currently led by Jon Critchley on trumpet with John Padfield on reeds, Andrew MacKenzie on trombone and vocals, Isabel Toner on string bass, Bill Buck on drums and Alan Jeffs on guitar. They opened with ‘Too Busy’ and went on with ‘South’, ‘The Jeep is Jumpin’, ‘Baby Doll’, ‘Empty Ballroom Blues’, ‘Rose Room’, ‘Time After Time’, ‘Midnight in Moscow’, ‘Dapper Dan’, ‘My Mother’s Eyes’, ‘Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea’, ‘Memories Of You’, ‘Special Delivery Stomp’, ‘Since You First Came My Way’, ‘Satin Doll’, ‘Talking Picture’, ‘One Two Buckle My Shoe’, ‘How High The Moon’, ‘Chinatown My Chinatown’, and they finished with a rousing ‘O Tannenbaum’. Throughout the entire concert Jon Critchley added his own gentle humour such that it was more than a concert, it was a performance. Lovely. Looking forward to welcoming them back soon.
16 March 2025 – Kevin Grenfell’s Jazz & Boogie Band: There is always great excitement when this band appears because you can expect the unexpected with the leader, Kevin Grenfell (trumpet, trombone and vocals) giving us full value for money in both music and comedy. The rest of the band comprised Steve Street on the drums, Alex Clarke on saxophone, Simon Smith on string bass and Richard Hughes on keyboard. They opened with ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing’ and went on with ‘Buena Serra Senorita’, ‘The Gypsy’, ‘Stafford Jazz Club Boogie Woogie’ (specially for us ☺), ‘Sentimental Journey’, ‘When You’re Smiling’, ‘Back Home In Indiana’, ‘Pennies From Heaven’, ‘The Lady Is A Tramp’, ‘Stardust’ (played by the lovely Alex), ‘The Night Has A Thousand Eyes’, ‘Up A Lazy River’, ‘A Train’, ‘Girl Of My Dreams I Love You’, ‘There Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens’ and finally ‘Bye Bye Blackbird’. Smashing. We look forward to seeing them again later this year.
9 March 2025 – Hot Teapots Jazz Band (Italy): This band, formed in Northern Italy as a street performance band, has their main focus on North American early jazz, blues and ragtime along with popular tunes. They are led by Michele Berfoldi on guitar and vocals and have David Vincenzi on clarinet and saxophone, Glauco Benedetti on trombone and tuba and Ryan Baer on tenor banjo and vocals. They opened with ‘Weary Blues’ and continued with ‘’Winin’ Boy’, ‘Louisiana’, ‘Who’s Sorry Now’, ‘Thriller’, ‘She’s Crying For Me’, ‘Dr Jazz’, ‘Blue And Lonesome’, ‘Shine On Harvest Moon’, ‘When I Grow Too Old To Dream’, ‘Wabash Blues’, ‘El Rado Scuffle’, ‘Yes, I’m In The Barrel’, ‘Lonesome Blues’, ‘Humming To Myself’, ‘Old Fashioned Love’, ‘My Gal Sal’, ‘Am I Blue’, ‘Tiger Rag’ and finished with ‘Jazz Me Blues’. A lovely performance with some numbers new to me and the concert was greeted with rapturous applause and the audience took to their feet to show their appreciation. We look forward to them coming back to perform for us any time.
2 March 2025 – NO CONCERT