Our old friend Mitch Greaves was due to share his guest-spot with guitarist Dave Piggott this week, but unfortunately Mitch was forced to cancel owing to a very nasty stomach bug and Dave Piggott also cancelled which left Mike Dearing and me searching for a suitable replacement. It was Mike who came up trumps, inviting one of the finest and most respected guitarists on the scene in the towering shape of The Odyssey Blues Band's Malcolm Hine.

At quite short notice, Mike put together an extensive and varied set-list that Reg and I had very little time to swat up on - ten numbers in fact, although not all of them were played. Perhaps Van Morrison's "I Will Be There" was a little ambitious from my point of view but the houseband's opening set was warmly appreciated by yet another ever-increasing audience. The only blot on what turned out to be a great night was arriving home and discovering my mp3 recorder had only recorded 28kbs of nothing, despite doubly making sure it was switched on at the start of the evening! All's not lost however: there's much evidence of what quality Blues was being played this week on Ernie King's YouTube channel (see below).

We just about managed two numbers from Mike, Malcolm Hine & the houseband at the end of the night with "Walkin' By Myself" and "Boom Boom, Out Go The Light" to wrap up another highly successful night enhanced by Malcolm Hine, who we sure hope to see back here again in the very near future. Lastly but certainly not least, we send our best wishes to Mitch Greaves for a speedy recovery and hope to rearrange a guest-spot for Mitch and Dave Piggott in the near future.

The signing-in sheet looked a little lop-sided this week with a mere three vocalists but a plethora of guitarists. Good to see Pete Abernethy amongst our drummers. Both Jan Fielder and Dave Richards were given an extra jam-set each with Mike Dearing providing vocals on the penultimate jam-set featuring guitarists Alan Taylor and Dave Mason, bassist Richard Stenhouse and the aforementioned Peter Abernethy.

I have to say what terrific jam-sets were played by everyone this week. It's very rare that I heap extra praise on one particular set, Phil Hughes' always turns in great performances, but his set this particular week was of the highest calibre - what else would anyone expect when his line-up included Dapper Malcolm Smith, Cheeky-Chappy John Carroll, Martin Heath and Marc Turner! Besides the quality, the whole set was played at a sensible volume, underlining the fact that Blues need not be played at an ear-splitting level.

This week saw the return of rhythm guitarist Dave Mason and also Kevin O'Brien who brought along a nice looking Jazzmaster. Owing to there being so many guitarists we were not able to give Raf a guitar-playing set - but I'm always impressed my his bass-playing anyway.

We had the pleasure of twenty first-class Jammers here this week. Time to call...

The Roll Of Honour:

• Vocals - Jan Fielder and Mike Dearing
• Guitar+Vocals - Dave Richards
• Sax, Harp+Vocals - Phil Hughes
• Guitar - Kevin O'Brien, Chris Greene, Richard Stenhouse, Malcolm Smith, John Carroll, Alan Taylor, Dave Mason, Doug Baker and Ian Hammond
• Harp - Ned Phillips
• Bass - Raf, Richard Stenhouse, Dave Taylor and Martin Heath
• Drums - Steve Panteli, John Ward, Marc Turner and Pete Abernethy

As always, my thanks to Ernie King for laying out the back-line even before Vera and I had arrived. Our thanks also to Richard Stenhouse and everyone else who helped to pack away the equipment at the end of the night. This week's photos were provided by Queen Bee Vera who also arranged this week's five jam sets.

Next time at Leytonstone Blues Jam:
Next week our houseband guest will be Andy Robinson who will be travelling down from Frinton-On-Sea to be with us. As an extra treat he will be bringing along his star pupil Joe Zuccala, whose guitar-playing far exceeds his tender age - please arrive nice and early and grab a seat.

Something for the weekend:
Blues night continues this week at St Harmonica's on Friday 24th when "The Disclaimers" will be performing on their Burns Night Special. Half-time support is provided by Jim Drury. For further details, see: http://www.thevintage.org.uk/st-harmonicas-blues-club.html or The St. Harmonica's Facebook page

At The Manor Arms, 150 East India Dock Road, E14 0BP on Saturday 25th there will be guaranteed top-class entertainment when our good friend Christine Lewis will be celebrating her birthday in style aided and abetted by Dave Heggs who will be guesting with Ronnie Collins' Last Project. Fun and games start at 3pm through to 6pm - some food will be provided, no charge at the door.

Thanking All Our Jammers & Listeners,