Some Jazz and Blues

The Chicago Teddybears Society Jazz Band put on a great show at Eagley Jazz Club on Monday. The performances at this jazz club are outstanding, especially considering you can get in, have a beer and a pastie, and enter the raffle, all for around a tenner.

On Tuesday Sue and I were treated by a good friend, by way of a thank you to me for organising a couple of Alpine trips, to a delicious meal at Mr Cooper’s restaurant, followed by a visit to the Bridgewater Hall to see John Mayall with the Buddy Whittington Band.

So far as I can recall, the first gig I ever went to, probably in 1966 shortly after I passed my driving test and was let loose on my dad’s Morris/Austin 1100 (don’t ask – I did crash it), was to see John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers at Redcar Jazz Club in the Coatham Hotel. We went to a few gigs there around that time, including early performances from Cream, who I saw again in Manchester. I recall Zoot Money and the Big Roll Band featuring loudly in Redcar, and amazingly, I’ve discovered that like John Mayall, who is 83 years old, they are still playing and have a gig tonight!

Mayall has been performing since 1956. His band, over the years, reads like a Who’s Who of blues and blues rock musicians.

I enjoyed the performance, though the Buddy Whittington Band’s sound could have been better – perhaps we were too near the front. It brought back some happy memories from my schooldays with Mike and Geoff and John and others.