Martin Winning (clarinet); Mick Shoulder (guitar); Dave Smith (rhythm guitar); Paul Grainger (string bass)
The Green Tree is a noted punk, rock and soul venue. This afternoon, the pub on Cockton Hill Road, situated just up the road from Bishop Auckland Railway Station, was hosting its very first jazz gig. As Mick Shoulder's Swing Manouche soundchecked in the pub's beer garden on this late summer afternoon, rain clouds gathered, threatening to rain on the jazz parade.
Swing Manouche attracted a sizeable crowd, some folk were recognisable faces from the region's jazz scene, others were simply enjoying a Sunday afternoon pint in the sun. Douce Ambience set the tone and the standard. As the first set progressed, bandleader Mick took to announcing numbers thus: Here's another tune you won't have heard before. The assumption being many of those present weren't jazz fans. Jazz fans or not, it didn't take too long for Mick and the boys to grab the attention of all. Dinette, I'll Never Smile Again and a set-closing Minor Swing fended off the rain clouds.
The interval. A second pint of Old Peculier, a natter and it was time for the second set.
The rain continued to hold off as Swing Manouche resumed matters with Coquette. Mick shared the bulk of the solos with Martin Winning (clarinet), string bass man Paul Grainger taking an occasional solo spot. Rhythm guitar maestro Dave Smith did what he does best, laying down the (immaculate) rhythm. From Russian Lullaby to Martin Winning's party piece Dark Eyes, judging by the applause, it appeared Swing Manouche were acquiring new fans by the minute.
Such was the applause, Swing Manouche obliged with an encore. The Sheik of Araby, a good old good one, sent us on our way. A Green Tree beer garden jazz gig could become an annual thing. Watch this space. Russell
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