School Reunion, Shelly Manne & Bireli Lagrene.

School reunion - it had been awhile since the last one and I looked forward to meeting up with those guys and gals who were part of my formative years. I went for the number 27 bus only for the driver to ignore my gesticulations for him to wait whilst I crossed the road - fingers were directed in his direction! 

Standing at the bus stop awaiting the next 27 I suddenly realised that, not only was it raining but it was also cold. To make matters worse, the zip on my leather jacket had ceased functioning and I was far from warm. I vowed that when I reached Newcastle I'd go to the nearest charity shop and purchase a sweater or something to prevent my body temperature dropping into the danger zone.

The best Arthritis UK on Grainger St. could offer was a scarf for £1. Bargain! I scanned the bookshelves in case there was an Elmore Leonard I had yet to read. No joy. Elmore Leonard readers, understandably, don't give up their treasures lightly. I then glanced at the CDs...

Shelly Manne and his Men at the Black Hawk Vol. 2! I already had Vol. 1 - Kamuca, Joe Gordon, Feldman, Monty Budwig, for £1 an even better buy than the scarf! I had to pinch myself - next to it a CD by Bireli Lagrene and next to that CDs by Duke, Miles, Billie, Sarah, Fats, Grappelli, Tatum plus a few jazz compilations - have I died and gone to heaven I wondered? In the end I settled for the scarf, Shelly and Bireli.

I'm listening to Shelly and his Men as I type - they're playing What's New? In the early days of this blog Roly V waxed eloquently about Richie Kamuca and RK lives up to that seal of approval on this disc. Joe Gordon was no mug on trumpet either!

So, on to the reunion, we've all aged - some more than others - but the survivors still retain the affection we felt for each other all those years ago as we stood on the edge of the future...  One day I may even convince George that jazz didn't end in 1929...

Lance