Not two weeks (actually it’s exactly two weeks since the last gig but hey-ho) since our last visit and here we are again, returning for a very different type of gig from the last. On this occasion we went to see the Zoe Schwarz Blue Commotion, a vocalist and band who we are assured (by the Fleece Jazz promotional literature) have a foot firmly in both the jazz and blues camps. Again, to facilitate our OCD tendencies, we took the fleeze jazz package, which included an overnight stay at the hotel and breakfast the following morning.
Delighted to report that all was again fine on the hotel front, although the lunch on this occasion not up to the standard of the previous meal – we conjecture a different chef 👨🍳🤣.
The gig was assuredly a very different experience from the Forcione concert but nevertheless we both enjoyed it. The band (Zoe Schwarz on vocals, electric guitarist Rob Koral, organist Pete Whittaker and drummer Eddie John) were an excellent ensemble, lauded by the likes of Paul Jones and the Blues In Britain Magazine – the latter stated that they exhibit “A different level of class. Zoe’s vocal: powerful yet vulnerable. Rob, Pete et al turned out a masterclass in Schofield-esque sophistication“). I agree that’s a fair assessment (possibly more so than Mrs. No Name) but even I would concede that there wasn’t the emotional connection to the performance that ideally I would like to have found – but then we can’t all be Van The Man or Aretha Franklin or, in Mrs. No Name’s case, Sarah Jane Morris or Eric Bibb 🙂 .
There were reasons for this of course and the most obvious of those was that the band as a whole was closer to the jazz spectrum of the musical palette, which quite understandably imbued even the straight ahead blues standards with a jazz sensibility. I have to say this is probably a criticism of ourselves rather than the band, which showcased exemplary playing throughout. Particular shout out to Pete Whittaker on organ ! The blues standards (as opposed to their original material) were all reinterpreted to a greater or lesser extent, which is probably fine for the cognoscenti but less appealing to the rank amateur like me. But don’t get me wrong, it was another thoroughly enjoyable evening, Zoe is a great singer and who can ever tire of hearing ‘Sitting On Top Of The World’, ‘Everyday I Have The Blues’ and ‘I Can’t Quit You Baby’!
After another perfectly fine breakfast and despite feeling decidedly torpid, we persuaded ourselves to visit the village of Polstead on the way home. Well known as the home of the infamous 1827 “Red Barn Murder” where a young woman, Maria Marten, was shot dead by her lover William Corder at the aforementioned Red Barn. Incidentally, the Corder House is in the collage (see left) but I will let the reader discover exactly which house it is. You can, if so inclined, read all about the case on Wikipedia but I will just say that thousands attended the Corder execution (it is morbidly fascinating) and I’ll also leave you with the thought that the great Tom Waits wrote a song about it (‘Murder in the Red Barn‘). When we parked up in the village, we then belatedly realised that we’d been before. I humbly cling on to any vestige of sanity by documenting that we did remember both the village pub (we did indeed have a beverage break there) and the ramblers walk that we undertook on this previously forgotten visit. It is however both mortifying and a tad disconcerting to note that after returning home I then found photos that evidenced the previous sojourn and that it took place in 2008. Raging against the dying of the light indeed!
That all being said, we had a wander around the extremely appealing village centre and then wandered beyond the lake to visit St Mary (the Polstead church) that is, it has to be said, a little distant from the village centre. The church is unusual as it has the only medieval stone spire in Suffolk. It is set set high and back from the village pond and street and the churchyard is clearly ancient – we didn’t however discover the memorial to Maria Marten. The collage on the right features the church and its gravestones, although I am beginning to have grave concerns (see what I did there) that Mrs. No Name’s predilection for meandering around such places might amount to taphophilia and a plaintive call for professional, specialist help 🤫.
I do not of course include the spiritual Mrs. No Name in the labelling, but even for an avowed atheist like me this is a particularly lovely church and full of interest. Not simply because of anything that it specifically contains (which isn’t actually a great deal of note); it is in fact ordinarily plain, but succeeds almost because of that simplicity.
We again enjoyed the whole break, even if only 24 hours or so, and on this occasion the horses were mercifully spared!