old news

23rd May 2006

The Ben Waters Band returned 100 Club in Oxford Street, London on 6th May. Ben, Clive, Ady and myself were joined by Clive’s trombone-wielding brother Ray and sax supremo Derek Nash. The place was absolutely mobbed and the atmosphere was wonderful, and I must say the band was in fine form.

Brahms & Liszt regrouped at the compact and bijou Sailor’s Return in Weymouth on Saturday 13th May. The line-up was Tim Broad and Grant Day (guitars), Nick Gomer (harmonica), Rob Davis (drums) and myself. I was playing my brand-new (well, second-hand) Ashbory 19-inch scale fretless bass. I’ve been after one of these for a while, and I wasn’t disappointed – it looks like a toy, but it sounds like a double bass. Amazing thing.

The Ben Waters Band made its début at The Concorde Club, Eastleigh, near Southampton on Wednesday 17th May. The Concorde is a well-established venue on the British jazz circuit, but they loved our set of full-on boogie, blues and rock’n’roll.

On Saturday 20th May Little Dixie returned to the Sailors Return in Weymouth for another night of proper soul, blues and new country, mixed with Mutter’s wondrous original material. I love playing at the Sailors – it’s got that playing-in-your-mates-front room vibe.

The following weekend we’ve got a brace of Dixie gigs, at the Park Hotel, Grange Road, Weymouth on Friday 26th and at the Ropemakers, West Street, Bridport on Saturday 2 th. On Sunday 28th I’m back at the Park, this time with guitarist extraordinaire and diamond geezer Robbie McIntosh, starting at around 3pm. Robbie’s just got back from doing some gigs with Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris.

As usual, the Thursday night jam sessions continue at Finns, Westham Road, Weymouth. New and established bands and solo artists are encouraged to take to the stage, and there’s at least half a dozen bands out gigging now that started off playing a few numbers at these sessions. If you want to book yourself a slot, get down there before 9pm and have a word with me. PA and backline is provided.

Chris Lonergan

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