A cracking session down at the coast. Six piece band - three regulars and three deps. It didn't matter. Any casual passer-by who'd dropped in after a bracing walk along the sea front wouldn't know one from the other, so well did the deps slot in.
Opening up with their eponymous theme song all six were as one. Jim McBriarty sang Arlen's As Long as I Live. He sang it well but it also gave him the chance to solo on his recently acquired Selmer soprano sax. The gold plated keywork with the black enamelled body and the ornate engraving made it a work of art in its own right. So many sax players pay top dollar for their main instrument and yet, possibly because of a ratio of notes played to notes spent go for the cheapest option. False economy as Jim proved - he got a great sound without any of the intonation problems inherent in cheaper sops.
Next up Olive who delighted us with an uptempo From This Moment on and a slower Out of Nowhere - the girl's still got it!
Undecided swung with all the horns soloing as well as Peacock who is a very welcome addition to the keyboard fraternity.
You Meet the Nicest People in Your Dreams sang Olive. I'll try it tonight although I'd sooner be awake when I do.
Take the A Train, I've Got the World on a String (vocal Jim), an unseasonable Gershwin song by Olive and a blast on At the Woodchopper's Ball - no last chorus key changes - that saw the clock ticking round to the bewitching hour of 3:00pm.
Olive wrapped it up with When You're Smiling which was how we all left - smiling. Lance
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