There was a very brief burst of trombone poetry during the Jazz Night hosted by singer Julia Farino, before she suddenly leapt up when SPEECH was plugged, to promote her own album. We resumed our jazz standards with the exemplary Phil Mead Trio for the jazz-mad Crystal Palace multitudes.
The rumours of airplay for a track or two from SPEECH were well-founded: Digby Fairweather indeed played one during his afternoon show on thejazz, followed by Campbell Burnap that night, who played three. Success! We’re in! The day after, it was announced that thejazz was being axed.
Croydon beckoned again, as The Green Dragon belched forth another splendid evening of Freedom Of Expression. Among the new trombone poetry offerings were two poems about failed gigs: Fools’ Errand and Numbers Game.
Surprisingly toity for a backstreet boozer in Stockwell, The Cavendish Arms has converted its back room into a little ballroom, with spotlit stage, glitterball and whatnot. A highlight of the open mic session was a couple of intricate tunes bounced out from a banjo by a local muso whose name unfortunately got lost in some beer.