Brian Bennett (banjo & vocals), Fred Rowe (trumpet & vocals), Lawrence McBriarty (trombone), Fred Thompson (drums & vocals), Jim McBriarty (tenor & clarinet).
The first set started as a quintet - Jim McBriarty was caught in an 'Artie Shaw' (Traffic Jam) near the Tyne Tunnel - with familiar tunes from the band's burgeoning pad.; ''I Can't Give You Anything But Love'' followed by ''Darktown Strutters' Ball" with vocal duties shared by Thompson and Rowe.
McBriety Minor arrived as ''Yellow Dog Blues'' proved once again to be a particularly good vehicle for the ensemble, topped off by an object lesson in economical soloing by Fred Rowe.
I had just purchased a pint of Mordue's ''Avalon'' when MC Mr. Bennett announced to the appreciative audience that the next number was to be ''Avalon.'' I thought, I'll drink to that, and duly did! The first set drew to a close with the rouser that is ''Alexander's Ragtime Band."
The busy north east coast jazz scene meant a swift exit and a Metro along the Tyne Riviera to North Shields...
Rendezvous Quintet @ The Porthole, North Shields.
Maureen Hall (vocals), Brian Chester (trombone), Barry Soulsby (clarinet & vocals), Roy Gibson (keyboards), Paul Bacon (drums).
I arrived in time for the second set of Maureen's regular Friday residency and, a pint of Allendale's ''Curlew's Return'' in hand, I had the dubious pleasure of being 'entertained' by a jazz Easter bonnet parade! Pretty bonnets, pretty women marching in time around the Porthole to the sounds of Barry Soulsby's clarinet. A disconcerting moment was a male participant wandering around with a ''hankie on his heed'' telling me as he passed by ''divin't say nowt''. A translation from the Geordie is available upon request. The jazz resumed, thankfully, with ''It Had To Be You'' and a Maureen Hall favourite, ''It's a Sin to Tell a Lie''.
Well, it was Good Friday, so I guess I'll forgive the fun and frolics. Next week - jazz !
Russell.
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