Paula Jackman (clarinet, tenor sax, vocals); 'Magic' Mike Henry (cornet); Hank Jindrich (trombone); 'Doctor' Hugh Crozier (piano, vocals); 'Lord' Marc Easener (sousaphone, euphonium); 'Baby' Jools Aldridge (drums)
The forecast suggested it would be 21° and more. Stubborn cloud cover put paid to that! However, wandering through Darlington town centre's wynds and yards on the way to St Augustine's Parish Centre, it proved to be pleasantly warm. Walking through the gates of the Larchfield Street venue before midday, the car park was already 50% full - a sure sign that there would be another good turn out at Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
This afternoon's guests - Paula Jackman's Jazz Masters - would be making a third visit, such is the band's popularity. A 'Magic', a 'Doctor', a 'Lord' and a 'Baby' accounted for four of the six musicians on the stand. Bandleader Jackman didn't have a moniker, other than 'bandleader' and the Jazz Masters' trombonist from the Czech Republic flew in 'under the wire' as plain old 'Hank Jindrich'.
Alexander's Ragtime Band opened the show and, by chance, the titles of the next three numbers were from the top end of the alphabet, namely Ain't Misbehavin, Apex Blues (Jimmie Noone a hero of Jackman's) and Ain't She Sweet. Solos were shared across the band with the afternoon's vocals being handled by Jackman (reeds) and pianist 'Doctor' Hugh Crozier.
'Magic' Mike Henry starred throughout, notably in a duet with Crozier (Earl Hines), 'Magic' as Louis Armstrong (cornet), playing Weather Bird. A slower-than-usual tempo Rosetta (Crozier singing) and Jackman's tenor sax on the one where she wished she could shimmy like her sister Kate took us up to the interval.
The interval: a sheaf of dud raffle tickets and a ludicrously cold, not chilled, bottle of Doom Bar at six quid. Oh, well...
A spirited Hindustan resumed affairs. 'Magic' Mike hit the heights on Fidgety Feet, frontline partner Jindrich did the necessary throughout the afternoon (perhaps two or three solo spots wouldn't have gone amiss), Leven Thirty Saturday Night (as played by Ambrose) worked well, and the boys in the engine room - 'Lord' Marc Easener (sousa and euphonium), and 'Baby' Jools (drums) - kept stoking the fires until, to the strains of When It's Sleepy time Down South, Paul Jackman introduced the band one more time.
Next month (October) there will be not the usual one, but two concerts. On Saturday 4th, it's Gavin Lee's all-star New Orleans Ragtime Band and on Saturday 18th, it's the Adrian Cox Trio. Clarinet maestro Cox is soon to embark on a mammoth autumn tour and St Augustine's will be one of many stops along the way. Cox will be accompanied by London based New Zealander Alex 'Honey' Boulton (guitar) and, from Paris, the brilliant double bassist Alex Gilson. Russell
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