Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums) + all comers (almost certainly not in order of appearance): Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn, vocals); Neil Hopper (double bass, bass guitar); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Fiona Finden (curved soprano sax); Stu Finden (tenor sax); Patrick Cromb (vocals); Debra Milne (vocals); David Gray (trombone, flugelhorn); Esther Coombes (alto sax, clarinet); Carmen Silk (vocals); Jenni Winter (piano); Julija Jacenaite (vocals); Shayo Oshodi (vocals); Becky Tuck (vocals); Kit Haigh (guitar); Steve Glendinning (guitar) + numerous others (names escaped, names unknown)
It was December 5, 1933. Prohibition was at an end. Wait a minute! It was July 31, 2025. Prohibition would soon be at an end. Mitch Mitchell's joint down on Pink Lane was soon to close its doors one last time. Mitch kindly invited BSH to attend an invitation-only farewell party, an invitation graciously accepted.
First to arrive at six o'clock and one of the last to leave sometime after midnight, BSH bagged a ringside table. It wasn't a night for note-taking, it was a night to enjoy and, hopefully, remember. As Prohibition Bar was about to shut up shop for good, it was only right and proper to consume one or three (hic!) bottles of the house beer - Prohibition Ale 33 Pale Ale.*
The house trio for the evening - Alan Law, Paul Grainger and Mark Robertson - with trumpet ace Pete Tanton fronting the opening numbers, Pete, singing There'll never be another you, got things off to a flying start. The Harry Warren-Mack Gordon number would be reprised later in the evening...
From here on in it was non-stop jazz, jazz, jazz and David Bowie and Liza Minnelli and...Yes, Ziggy Stardust performed (brilliantly) by Jude Murphy (as David Bowie), Kit Haigh (guitar), Neil Hopper (bass guitar) and mine host, Mitch Mitchell (drums). Quite a moment! Between times, faces old and new sat-in: the Findens (Stu and Fiona), Debra Milne (Caravan), the omnipresent Esther Coombes (reeds), long-time, no-see vocalist Patrick Cromb (a busy medic, is Patrick, he wasn't going to miss this farewell party!) and a scratch vocal troupe of local divas - Jude, Julija, Becky and Shayo. Great fun!
This being Prohibition Cabaret Bar, to give the joint its full name, the shutters couldn't come down one last time without an appearance from operatic artiste Carmen Silk (accompanied by pianist Jenni Winter). Life is a Cabaret, old chum, Come to the Cabaret sang Ms Silk. It stayed sung.
It was gone midnight, someone (exactly who is forgotten, hic!) assembled the troops for one last blow. When the Saints...go marching in, all horns blowing, Pete Tanton leading the parade out onto Pink Lane, all horns blowing and dancing. What would the slumbering neighbourhood make of the racket? We were beyond caring. The parade wound its way back indoors. And that was it...not quite! Speech! Speech! Proprietor M. Mitchell expressed his thanks to the countless numbers of musicians who had graced Prohibition Bar's stage over the last decade or so and to the establishment's many punters, some of whom he now regards as friends.
What is to become of 25-27 Pink Lane? We'll find out in due course. Thanks to Mitch. Life is a cabaret, old chum.
* A final, short-run, individually numbered (1-100) batch of the house beer Prohibition Ale 33 (4%, Allendale Brewery) was being consumed as if Prohibition 1933 was about to come into effect. Several weeks ago your correspondent obtained one of the bottles - number 1/100. A collector's item. Russell
1 comment :
A joyous end to what is a very sad day , the loss of these smaller independent venues is really upsetting because they offer the chance for lesser known yet consummate musicians to air their passion and adroitness for their music of choice.
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