Brian
Bennett (banjo & vocals), Fred Rowe (trumpet & vocals), Barry Soulsby
(clarinet, alto saxophone & vocals), Lawrence McBriarty (trombone), Bill
Colledge (double bass) & Fred Thompson (drums & vocals)
(Review by Russell).
The weather on Haddricks Mill Road couldn’t have been
worse – hailstones resembling golf balls, sleet, torrential rain. Top Cat had
returned from Moscow
so the boys in the band were on their best behaviour. Looking out of the window
bandleader Bennett said April Showers
seemed like a good one to start with, so they did, the month of April but a few
days away. Fred Thompson and Barry Soulsby shared the vocal duties.
Fred Rowe sang Aint’ She Sweet?, played good trumpet on
The Jackass Blues and sang again
(there was no stopping the senior man in the band) – something called Inka Dinka Doo.
The Millstone does ‘classic’ pub
grub – something and chips or if you fancy it, something else and chips. The
Vieux Carré aspire to something a little more sophisticated – Jambalaya for instance. Thompson and
Soulsby once again helped themselves to a portion of vocals, red beans and rice
for Lawrence McBriarty (trombone), a real gumbo. Buddy Bolden’s Blues as a second course (Thompson’s vocals) with a
pint of Bass made for a good choice.
The weather improved during the
interval and second set the Vieux Carré Jazzmen picked up were they left off
with a good selection of tunes. Palestrina
(Rowe, vocals), Embraceable You
(Thompson vocals, Soulsby on clarinet) and a rousting Bugle Boy March maintained the standard. Later Brian Bennett took
time to talk about Malcolm Gray (trumpet/flugelhorn) whose death was announced
earlier in the week. He dedicated Just a
Closer Walk with Thee to the memory of Malcolm.
Russell. 
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