Not a title intended to stir up controversy, I hope!
Here in London, mean-minded jazz afficionadoes, not to speak of old age pensions such as myself, should feel especially privileged by the number of freebie gigs on offer in das kapital.
Just this very afternoon, I had the pleasure of a local singer, Sharon Kelly by name, turning out three hours' worth of standards and no-so-standards, accompanied by a pianist deserving imv of wider recognition, Richard Madgwick - all for the price of a single Courvoisier - in a pub within 15 minutes' walking distance of where I live. (NB I did offer a drink to the musicians, but they declined).This pub puts on jazz duos and trios, usually one of them a singer, every Sunday afternoon, and a big Swing band on Monday nights - all free entry. Another pub, a 5 minute bus ride in the opposite direction, presents quality contemporary British jazz on the last Tuesday of every month - again free entry, although the patroness comes round with a bucket halfway through, with punters normally putting in between a fiver and a tenner. At least half the days of the week, jazz groups ranging from duos to 8-piece line-ups are presented in the foyers of the National Theatre and of the Purcell Room/Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, under what used to be titled "Commuter Jazz" - again, free to punters. Dotted all around the centre of London are bars and restaurants where jazz can similarly be seen and heard for zilch.
Am I right to feel exceptionally lucky to have landed myself back in the Smoke - in this respect, at least? Is London singularly endowed with the amount of free jazz in the literal sense on offer? Or can other places proclaim a similar story?
I just wondered...
S-A
Here in London, mean-minded jazz afficionadoes, not to speak of old age pensions such as myself, should feel especially privileged by the number of freebie gigs on offer in das kapital.
Just this very afternoon, I had the pleasure of a local singer, Sharon Kelly by name, turning out three hours' worth of standards and no-so-standards, accompanied by a pianist deserving imv of wider recognition, Richard Madgwick - all for the price of a single Courvoisier - in a pub within 15 minutes' walking distance of where I live. (NB I did offer a drink to the musicians, but they declined).This pub puts on jazz duos and trios, usually one of them a singer, every Sunday afternoon, and a big Swing band on Monday nights - all free entry. Another pub, a 5 minute bus ride in the opposite direction, presents quality contemporary British jazz on the last Tuesday of every month - again free entry, although the patroness comes round with a bucket halfway through, with punters normally putting in between a fiver and a tenner. At least half the days of the week, jazz groups ranging from duos to 8-piece line-ups are presented in the foyers of the National Theatre and of the Purcell Room/Queen Elizabeth Hall on the South Bank, under what used to be titled "Commuter Jazz" - again, free to punters. Dotted all around the centre of London are bars and restaurants where jazz can similarly be seen and heard for zilch.
Am I right to feel exceptionally lucky to have landed myself back in the Smoke - in this respect, at least? Is London singularly endowed with the amount of free jazz in the literal sense on offer? Or can other places proclaim a similar story?
I just wondered...
S-A
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