The house band of myself, Charles Benfield on double bass, Martin Holloway on snare/percussion and Dave Forristal on keys kicked off with a few of my originals – Early In The Morning, Thinkin’ About Nothing, Changes Coming Here and Your Second Line, and I played my oldish Yamaha 6-string and very old National Trojan. The rest of the band were then gainfully employed with the vast majority of performers, adapting to everything asked of them and proving yet again just how good they are. Special mention here perhaps for Charles, who was giving his double bass a debut, and terrific it was too.
Mark, Charles, Martin and Dave
Then came regular visitor Laine Haines, with a predictably top-notch set of his versions of songs by the greats – Blind Lemon Jefferson’s Easy Rider Blues, Pete Wheatstraw’s Preacher Blues and Ishmon Bracey’s Cherry Hall Blues. Laine was joined throughout by harp playerJohnny Appleyard, who gelled instantly and served up some terrific playing.
Laine and Johnny
Johnny stayed up to join Clayton Denwood and the rest of the band for a rousing set comprising Tough Town Blues, Got It Bad For You Baby and Runaway Train. By the time everyone had got to full steam in this set, it was possible to believe my brash suggestion at the start that listeners might not realise that everything was unrehearsed.
Clayton
Established blues artist Big Joe Louis came on next, kicking off with two solo acoustic numbers,Tailor Made and What’s The Matter, and ending with a nice version of the venerable Catfish Blues, for which he was joined by the band andPaul on sax. Big Joe (nice to see such an established artist braving an acoustic set), was followed by first-timer Simon, whose two numbers, one solo and one with the band, kept things going just fine. In what was a packed night, next came Laura Castle, who was joined by the house band, Will Greener (of whom more later) on harp and Tom on a resonator forMovin On and Mighty Tight Woman, Damian Green taking the drum role on the second number. Laura’s set motored along and was much enjoyed.
Big Joe
Simon
Laura
She was followed by another newcomer, Ryan Carr, a Canadian who dropped by to serve up two terrific murder ballads, Butcher Boy and Darling Corry, delivered with panache and humour. This accomplished musician and performer then announced that he had a mandolin concealed about his person, and was instructed to get the thing out and play it in the next set, which he duly did.
Ryan
Good friend of the jam and unique performer Will Greener (aka Captain Bliss) was next up and his set was a real highlight, showing just what the event is about and the heights an acoustic jam can reach. Together with Charles, Martin, Justin on keys and Ryan on mandolin, he led a wholly spontaneous but totally together set that was hugely enjoyed by everyone present. Will’s just the right kind of showman, and he led from the front with Louisiana Red’sWhose Ol’ Funky Drawers Is These? (not the tender love song you might expect from its understated title), Elmore James’ Must Have Did Something Wrong, and the second Sonny Boy’s Bye Bye Bird. Ryan showed that he could play the ass off the mandolin and at one point the interplay and unison thing he got going with Will’s harp was about as good a blast of music as you could hope to stumble on.
Will
Justin followed this with the welcome sight of a 12-string and his highly effective and very individual take on that very same Sonny Boy’s classic Fattening Frogs For Snakes (one of the great blues lyrics) and the much-heard-done-electric but really-good-done-acoustic Messin’ With the Kid, Junior Wells’ signature number. The band joined him on these and together they cooked up something rather fine.
The closing performer was regular and good friend Graham Hinton, who, as it has been remarked before, is a class act. He was exactly that again, running through excellent versions of Robert Johnson’s Steady Rollin’ Man and Driftin’. Graham’s set proved yet again just how good this music can be when a very good singer and player gets together with a very good band of musicians. There’s no doubt that the band and the various configurations of instruments available on the night make for all sorts of great things.
Graham
OK, everyone’s been name-checked now (I might abandon that in future!) and how long it’s taken me to do that is a measure of how popular the event seems to be getting. We had no fewer than 9 sets aside from mine at the start, and it’s great to see how many good people are showing up. This time we had a nice mixture of regulars and first-timers, and long may that continue. We definitely seem to have got something a bit special going here.
A slight downside of that was that I had to cut some sets to 2 instead of 3 numbers to fit everyone in, so we’re looking into maybe starting at 8.30 instead of 9. Another factor this time was that a number of people had left before the end to get their trains to the various far-flung places where they live. This happens at every live music venue in London of course, though it doesn’t always happen at the Green Note. It’s maybe another reason to start earlier, as it’s a shame for things to go off the boil before the end. Maybe we should ask for a show of hands at the start (‘Who commutes from Belgium?’, that sort of thing – I’m not sure I’m joking) so that we can work out the best schedule.
Anyway, it was another terrific evening, with another feel-good vibe and many appreciative responses. A lot of this has to do with the venue itself, which is ideal for this sort of event, and the support and input from Risa and Emilia is much appreciated. Big thanks too to Agneta for doing the door and taking the photos on what was a pretty hectic night.
See everybody at the next one, on 14th October.
Mark Harrison
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