A very disappointing turn-out this week despite having three quarters of The Customtones as houseband guests, but that didn’t seem to faze Martin Fieber and Steve Taylor putting on another quality performance however small the attendance. Owing to the very late arrival of MC Mike Dearing, we got off to a delayed start, mainly because Mike was still in possession of our monitor. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long for Mike to complete the setting up of the P.A upon his arrival.

Martin began the opening set with a short cheesy little instrumental of his own composition titled “Meet The M Panel”, which didn’t record very well on my mp3 player alas, but Martin immediately powered straight into another of his own compositions with “Twangin’ The Blues” – another favourite of mine, and the same could be said of Martin and Steve’s versions of “I Put A Spell On You” and “Can’t Be Satisfied” which followed. Before wrapping up the opening set, Martin sat down and brought out his lap-steel to give a rare outing of “Mr Steel” – yet another self-penned instrumental.

On a night when there was a distinct lack of vocalists, we called upon Martin to get amongst our jammers, which he seemed to enjoy, as did Billy Sharpe who made a welcome return after last week’s enforced absence and was given an extra jam set – and I don’t know what Billy and club member Ann were drinking, but they certainly know how to enjoy themselves!

Owing to the aforesaid lack of vocalists, there was perhaps less Blues and more soft rock being played this week. Kevin Molyneux stepped out of his comfort zone to provide vocals by giving us a taste of the Rolling Stones, Micky Jupp and Neil Young – and how happy I was to play bass for him, accompanied by Chris Greene and Marc Turner!

Our MC Mike Dearing was also kept busy with two jam sets, but a pity young guitar player Sam left so soon after his jam set, thus not enabling us to give him another jam set. A nice surprise to see Kevin O’Brien back here after such a long absence.

Martin Fieber and Steve Taylor returned to the stage at the end of the night with the inclusion of guitarist Murray to give us three more numbers after quite an interesting night, so without any further ado, our sincere thanks to Martin Fieber, Steve Taylor, and our loyal jammers. Time to call…

The Roll Of Honour:

• Guitar+Vocals - Billy Sharpe, Kevin Molyneux, Martin Fieber and Mike Dearing
• Guitar - Sam, Chris Greene, Kevin O'Brien, Richard Stenhouse, Ian Hammond and Murray
• Sax - Peter Harvie
• Keys - Steve Taylor
• Bass - Richard Stenhouse, Steve Taylor, Mike Dearing and Terry Duggan
• Drums - Marc Turner and Phil Overhead

This week’s batch of mp3s will soon be uploaded by our Webmaster Ken Cumberlidge, and Peter Harvie’s batch of photos can be enjoyed on Our Facebook page.

Our thanks to Queen Bee Vera for arranging all six jam sets, special thanks to Richard Stenhouse and Kevin Molyneux for setting out the backline and putting it all away at the end of the night.

Next time at Leytonstone Blues Jam:
Next week’s houseband guest will be Michael Fulke, who was here as a jammer a few weeks ago and made a huge impression on everyone, so please arrive early – you won’t be disappointed!

Something for the weekend:
Every Thursday, our resident drummer Phil Overhead hosts his Blues jam at the new venue of The Three Compasses, 62 High Street, N8 7NX starting at 8.30pm – free entry, plus a very competent houseband and backline provided.

On Friday 17th January at The Southgate, their featured band will be the highly rated “Blues Chapter” with support from “Potts”. For more details, check out www.stharmonicas.co.uk

On Saturday 18th at The Manor Arms, 150 East India Dock Road, E14 0BP, two very talented musicians in the form of Michael Goulding and Rebecca Turner will be guesting with Ronnie Collin’s Last Project. Although Michael has become a firm favourite at the Manor, it will be the first appearance of Michael’s partner Rebecca Turner (vocals/keyboard). It promises to be a great afternoon. 3.00pm- 6.00pm, please use beer-garden entrance after 3.00pm – no charge at the door.

Thanking All Our Jammers & Listeners,