Bus to North Shields, into the British Heart Foundation and there among glossy romances and improbable murders was John Swzed's 2002 biography of Miles, So What: The Life of Miles Davis. A book I'd long sought and now it was mine for a mere 50p!
I had the feeling that this was going to be my day and it was!
I jumped onto the Metro and got off one stop later at Tynemouth. Now if you haven't been to the market held on Saturdays and Sundays on Tynemouth Station then you haven't lived. You can buy anything - even WWll memorabilia and lots of books and vinyl.
The albums ranged in prices ranging from £1 to a minor politician's ransom. A sign of the times perhaps but the jazz was at the lower end of the price range and I picked three up for a total of only £8.
The Ruby Braff/George Barnes Quartet's Gershwin tribute is absolutely beautiful. The guitarist even revitalises Summertime although Braff snubs Porgy & Bess in favour of Bidin' my Time. £3 well-spent.
Pablo Live Montreux '77 with Peterson, Milt Jackson, Clark Terry, Joe Pass, NHP, Bobby Durham and our own Ronnie Scott, who more than holds his own, was well worth £4 of the two for £5 I coughed up. The other album: Clark Terry/Gary McFarlane's Tiajuana: Happy Jazz For Fun was, by comparision, disappointing. This despite the presence of such big hitters as Terry, Joe Newman, Bob Brookmeyer and Barry Galbraith among others. Some excellent solos but the Mexican rhythm that pervaded throughout I found somewhat irritating.
Still it wasn't a bad day out, at least not for me. I also picked up a Robert B. Parker paperback for £1. Parker, who was one of the best of the hardboiled writers, had he still been alive and maybe living in North Shields would have witnessed some real live action watching three cops attempting to bundle a 'suspect', who didn't want to be bundled, into the back of the 'meat wagon'! I got the impression that nor did he want to help them with their enquiries.
Yes, it was quite a day! Lance
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