The Crown at Woodbridge

They certainly know their jazz in Woodbridge and we had an attentive audience who made the long journey south worthwhile.  The Crown is a lovely spot, recently and tastefully modernised and extended. And it seems they always have a jazz band playing on the last Thursday of the month.

I took this snap during Andy's guitar solo in Thelonius Monk's 'Round Midnight', Cesar Camba giving support on double bass.  We played three sets in all, enabling us to give an outing to many of our favourite tunes.

Tour Dates

OK, so we're not quite at the point of printing a roadie's T-shirt with all our dates proudly displayed.  For one thing, I don't think any of the brides and grooms would like to remember their wedding for the arrival of a hoard of uninvited guests.  But we do have a list of public performances which you are welcome to attend.

Most of our gigs are of the foody variety but you can see us in Woodbridge at the end of March or at Kelling in early June.  Food is available, but by no means compulsory, at these venues. (See the Dates page for details.)

And we're hoping to be headlining a large fundraising event in Norwich in April which promises to be a lot of fun.  Watch this space.

The summer break

A pared down line-up played at Earsham Street Café's foody night in Bungay, Suffolk yesterday. It was the last gig before a short summer break in which Andy will be doing some solo playing and Jonathan takes a puppet show to the Edinburgh Fringe.

We played a mixture of laid back jazz for eating and some hotter jazz and klezmer for between courses. The latter went down very well. We finished the set with a summery rendition of 'Stardust'.

Sunny Afternoon

A sunny afternoon in June and a trip to Denham, near historic Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk. We set up prior to an outdoor humanist wedding ceremony. Then, grateful for the shade it provided, played sunny summer sounds beneath a spreading copper beech. I didn't make it into the picture but left my clarinet in the frame to give a sense of scale.

The site was owned by an old couple who kept horse drawn carriages. The carriages were all away at a show, temporarily replaced with the tents of guests from far-flung parts. I don't know how long the property had been in the same family but the couple must have been in their eighties and had inherited the place from the male half's father. They have a wedding party every week in the summer, feeding them in a large barn. The property, not pictured, dates back to the 17th century but I suspect the kitsch statue (no judgement intended) is a little more recent.

People said such lovely things about our music that I wanted to say 'Can I have that in writing?' So, inspired, I have sprinkled the pages of our clunky old website with some of the accolades people have troubled to commit to paper in the past.

Weddings and the like

Just before I went off for a week to celebrate the summer solstice in glorious sunshine and nature's abundance the Straynotes drove down the road to a village just outside Stowmarket in Suffolk to perform for pre-lunch drinks. The daughter's wedding had coincided with the parents' wedding anniversary so the marquee, a grand affair with many rooms and 'windows' was pressed into service again.

When we arrived the carpet in the porch was being replaced and as this was where we were to play we had a few moments to peruse the grounds and use the facilities. These included the swankiest mobile toilets I have yet seen; they had carpets on the floors, prints on the walls and various sprays and bottled soaps by the faux-Victorian wash basins. It was the kind of loo where I have to go back and check the picture on the door. While I was in there I was treated to a little of Elgar's 'Nimrod'. Paul and Andy both heard Beethoven piano works emanating from from the 'in-house' sound system.

The hand-warmers came out for the sound check but by the time the guests arrived the day had warmed up sufficiently for the gloves to come off and for the diners to drink cocktails on the lawn. It really did go down very well and one elderly guest, obviously enjoying the band told me how this was 'real music' and you could keep all that pop music, thank you very much. Perhaps he had forgotten that this was the pop music he had grown up with, still sounding fresh today.