And they boogied on…

(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Kath Gowland.)

No sign of Mr B, perhaps he was out on the town catching up with old friends. At eleven, as BSH’s editor departed to his waiting carriage, the house lights went up. Amps off, and horns part dismantled, our American guests asked to play some more…

Amps on, horns hastily reassembled, we were up for a mega boogie. PG piano, JP electric bass, RM percussion, the late arriving Johnny ‘Blue Hat’ Davis blowing tenor, PG on alto and a full American compliment – tenor, trombone, guitar, double bass, drums and a front man vocal tour de force courtesy of our erstwhile singing piano player – stampeded down Route 66. The joint was jumpin’. They were up dancin’ not quite on the tables but near as damn it. More! More! They weren’t going anywhere.

The Jazz Café’s hard working bar staff taking photographs confirmed that this was one of those ‘I was there’ occasions. The Americans were having a ball, ditto the house band. To end, we went out on Up on Cripple Creek. The Band’s Southern fried swamp boogie kept everyone dancing as Davey Allen belted out the vocal, joined by Johnzo West and JP out front making it a harmonising vocal trio! In his earlier dispatch, BSH’s editor stated that ‘our guys held their own’. Absolutely right! A rocking Peter Gilligan, ‘Blue Hat’ tearing it up and Paul ‘Banana Bread’ Gowland showing our American friends a thing or two.

Russell.