Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone - August 9

Ray Harley (trumpet); Jim McBriarty (clarinet, alto sax, vocals); Lawrence McBriarty (trombone); Brian Bennett (banjo, guitar); Bill Colledge (bass guitar); Fred Thompson (drums, vocals) + John Broddle (vocals); Herbie Hudson (trombone, harmonica, vocals)

What a contrast! Last week it was in the mid twenties, today the top temperature in Holystone must have been fully ten degrees lower. Taking the wind chill factor into account it was positively autumnal. Gone were the shorts and straw boaters as the band huddled together, in a socially distanced kind of way, under an awning which, a week ago, offered welcome relief from a burning sun, this afternoon it acted as a windbreaker.

Washington and Lee Swing opened proceedings as the faithful looked up at a leaden sky. Would the sun break through? Fat chance! A chilled pint of Guinness pointed up a failing of 'Covid-secure' table service. Anyone who knows anything about beer wouldn't ever order a chilled pint of Guinness or any other beer for that matter, but, the bar staff probably assumed this is what the customer would want (the handpull was unavailable). The prospect of sitting in a beer garden for a couple of hours or so in what seemed like sub-zero temperatures held little appeal. Band leader Brian Bennett suggested Jim McBriarty should sing Smiles. BB suggested the number was somehow appropriate...hmm.

We English are said to be stoical about the weather - we talk about it, we endure it. MC Bennett introduced Fred Thompson's first vocal number of the afternoon - Bring Me Sunshine. Very droll. The first of the afternoon's guests got up to join the band. If I Had You met with a chorus of 'bah, bah' but we weren't too distracted from John Broddle's vocals, they're always a delight. Fred Thompson closed the first set with Runnin' Wild. Perhaps we should have been running on the spot in an effort to keep warm!

The interval; no raffle (Covid-secure are the VCJ), instead, the hat was passed round. A handpull was on. Hooray! That'll be a pint of London Pride. Minutes later...sorry, the London Pride isn't on, the Deuchars is on. A pint of (non-chilled) Deuchars it was. 

Jim McBriarty kicked off the second set singing My Honey's Lovin' Arms playing clarinet into the bargain. A togged-up Herbie Hudson joined the boys for a couple of numbers - Oh, Lady Be Good! (trombone and harmonica) with FT taking the vocal, and a sprightly Sweet Georgia Brown (HH's harmonica and vocal). Main man 'bone man McBriarty L returned to the stage to see out the set; East of the Sun (and West of the Moon) with Mr Bennett swapping banjo for guitar as McBriarty J played some languid clarinet (one of the day's highlights). Ray Harley, playing top-notch trumpet, lead the Vieux Carré's frontline, just as he did last week. RH's work on Darktown Strutters' Ball  proved to be particularly impressive. Rose Room then the 'outer' as Mr B likes to call it, this week with Mr Broddle returning to send us on our way with a spirited take on Avalon.   

Russell