Sunday afternoon and there we were off to a gig at a new venue for us, hosted by the Ipswich Jazz And Blues Club at Venue 16 and, specifically, in the Willow Suite. No, we have not abandoned “Jazz At The Fleece” and there are gigs lined up there as well, but we thought there was no harm in overviewing the local Fleece equivalent to check it all out. As far as the location is concerned, the venue gets a big thumbs up. A short car journey, plenty of parking and a 250 seater venue at capacity. Excellent bar included!
Normally set up in a table arrangement to mimic the jazz club scene, it sometimes adopts theatre style seating for larger gigs, of which the wonderful Paul Jones is undoubtedly one. Accompanied by a great band, including Harry Greene on tenor sax and the local legend that is George Double on bass, this was a gig that majored heavily on the blues genre for which Jones has always been renowned.
He performed two sets across two hours and used the 2022 album “Paul Jones – The Blues” as a basis for the set list, its USP being that Jones wrote or co-wrote all of the songs. We got material from all stages of his career, so that included Manfred Man (the bluesier side of the group I hasten to add), The Blues Band as well as his solo career. What we got is some magnificent musicianship – especially from Jones, one of the most underrated of harmonica players and a fine vocalist, but then he has always been something of an ambassador for the Blues – and for over sixty years or so it has to be said.
This was a gig Both Mrs. No Name and I enjoyed from start to finish; particular favourites included ‘It’s Got To Be The Blues’, a joy featuring great horn work from Greene and lovely solo spots from each band member. And it’s always good to hear Memphis Slim’s ‘Everyday I Have The Blues’, although interestingly enough, despite being an admirer of Slim’s work, I’ve never been a fan of Slim’s original version(s).
We thought it a great introduction to a club and venue to which we will definitely return. I view it as complementary to Jazz Fleece and simply gives us even more opportunities to see and hear both the well known and less mainstream acts. And as the Ipswich Jazz And Blues website indicates, it was previously known as the Ipswich Jazz Club, but changed its name to reflect that they have started to incorporate more blues into the programming. As we move forward, we’re hoping to selfishly use both clubs to our advantage.
And then to finish (nearly forgot), a short trip to the Railway Tavern for a lovely and very late Sunday lunch (or early dinner) and it was so close it’s not even worth mentioning the horses and ascertaining whether or not they were spared
Finally, as this is must clearly a blues gig, the review finds its way on to both the main site and the reviews section of the R&B Primer.