Bell & Bucket Jazz Band @ The Bell & Bucket, Norfolk Street, North Shields. February 17th.

Paul Bacon (drums), Mac Rae (clarinet, trumpet & vocals), Dave Rae (banjo) & Ian Heslop (double bass).

North Shields has a new New Orleans session. Led by drummer Paul Bacon at the Bell & Bucket pub (formerly a fire station) this makes it the fourth week day jazz venue down at the coast. Mondays catch Brian Chester & co at Cullercoats Crescent Club, Wednesdays at the same watering hole the Vieux Carre are in attendance, along the road at The Porthole are the Jazz Esquires and every Friday Maureen Hall can also be heard there.

The Bell & Bucket get together is a dedicated New Orleans affair. Veterans all, Bacon deploys a minimalist technique, Mac Rae, of gruff visage, plays measured clarinet, brother Dave keeps it simple and Ian Heslop is one of those 'been there done that' types.

Mac Rae can sing a blues - and he did just that. Little Gypsy Sweetheart, Avalon and Bob Wills' San Antonio Rose were appreciated by a small, select crowd. I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter was a good one (perhaps Maureen will sing this one tomorrow), likewise Ces't Magnifique.

Interval sitters-in were of the five-star variety; Roy Gibson (keyboards) played some Ellington and was joined on clarinet by Derek Fleck. trumpeter Mike Durham got up to sit down and have a blow (sitting down is the new standing up) and Ian Heslop was the last man standing.

A second set highlight saw a seated John Hallam augmenting the quartet for a bass trombone blast on Rosetta. There was a nod to Ken Colyer and a foot tappin' Down in Honky Tonk Town. All in all an enjoyable afternoon. Russell