Let there be lights

Andy adds a little sparkle to the occasion as we set up for a jazz and sea-food themed evening at Quayside Plaza in Great Yarmouth last Saturday. Phosphorescence?

Eastern Straynotes do try to add a little colour to their performances. We usually use rather larger lights than these but if you visit Angelo's excellent, but not especially large, establishment you will see why we scaled them down.

Pinocchio's

On Thursday night Andy and I found ourselves in Pinocchio's, a restaurant on trendy St Benedict's Street in Norwich.  The restaurant has live music every Thursday from 7pm until 10pm.  It is the perfect way to unwind after some late night shopping.  Eastern Straynotes have the power to both calm and invigorate and we'll be back there on March 15th.

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.

In With the New

I'm beginning to think that Eastern Straynotes have had more bass players than Spinal Tap had drummers.  But it is to be hoped that the excellent Cesar Camba is a long-term appointment.  Cesar (pronounced 'Thessar') took over from Cairo-bound Paul in September and has quickly made an impact.  And having seen him wading in the chilly River Yare during a photo shoot last month I don't think he's the type to get cold feet.

Farewell to Paul and retro wedding

This month we said goodbye to Paul Fitzgerald, our regular bass player for the last two years. Of all the places to emigrate to he's chosen Cairo. We wish him well.


Paul's replacement will be unveiled in a future post. Meanwhile, we are fortunate to have the incomparable Dave Pullin standing in on a temporary basis.

Yesterday we were in the deep south of Suffolk. The wedding speeches finished well over an hour behind schedule, giving Andy a chance to check out the featured automobile.



"Yes, the unmistakable smell of a Morris Minor!"

Straynotes on the ball

Last night we found ourselves at the ground of Norwich City FC, newly promoted to the Premier League. We began our set with the pitch clearly visible behind us. But by the time muggins here remembered his camera the sun had gone down. So here we are instead, posing at the third floor entrance to the Jarrold stand at the end of the night. The light isn't reflected glory, it's our own. One shouldn't blow one's own trumpet, especially if one doesn't even play trumpet, but we really were rather good.

And the occasion? A rather grand looking meal for folk engaged in pharmaceutical research at the University of East Anglia. Of course a function of this nature requires live jazz.

The Bandstand

As a child, almost before I knew what a musical instrument was, I fancied playing in a bandstand. I hadn't realised how cold my hands would get as the sun sank below the treeline. However, it was warm enough two weekends ago (I've had trouble keeping up with the pace of events!) to mark our first gig at Kelling Heath Holiday Park by playing in its bandstand. Surprisingly for April it remained warm all evening and the fingerless gloves were not required. Here's hoping it's as balmy when we return in a fortnight.

Here Andy and Paul are tuning up, just in case you're wondering.