Bell & Bucket New Orleans
Paul
Bacon (drums), Dick Straughan (piano), Mac Rae (clarinet & vocals), Lawrence
(Review by Russell).
A linen table cloth, paper party
hats, tinsel. Yes, it’s Christmas pub grub time! A three courses meal – posh,
eh? The Bell
and Bucket on Norfolk Street
in North Shields was busy. If it can’t do good business at this time of year it
never will.
Paul Bacon’s Bell and Bucket New
Orleans Jazz Band assumed their usual seats (the band is a New Orleans
all-seated affair) and mixed it up; Tishomingo
Blues the pick of the first few tunes. Guest vocalist Marilyn Hunter
(tucking into turkey and trimmings) sang C’est
Magnifique, the band pined for My Old
Kentucky Home and Eddie Casey, saloon bar style, assured us I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby.
Bandleader Bacon introduced some
serious N’Awlins tunes – Red Wing (good
trombone from Lawrence McBriarty, good clarinet and drums) and Mac Rae’s
clarinet and vocals on Paul Barbarin’s Second
Line set the standard. In an aside, Bacon mentioned he had been doing some
research into the music (a life-long project, no doubt) and had read of recent
speculation that Barbarin could have a good claim to ownership of Mood Indigo.
Second set, more mixed fayre; It Had to Be You and Margie. Gigs are ten-a-penny. Then, just
occasionally, something wonderful happens…Mac Rae sang Alcoholic Blues (comp. M. Rae). ‘…So long whisky, so long gin.’ What a tune! Witherspoon would have
covered it! Mr Rae had a confession to make…he stole the tune from Kenny Baker
when they were in Gran Canaria together. Now, there’s a story!
Next week (Tuesday 23) is party time
proper, more hats and silliness promised. Oh, yes. The snowmen from Prague …a visitor from the Czech
Republic offered two ginger bread men
(made in Prague )
as a raffle prize. Your BSH correspondent snaffled them.
Russell
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