It was quite a shock to see Harvey Road blocked off by roadworks this week without prior notice (Grrr), but everybody managed to arrive in good time after sussing out the confusing diversion signs – the road will be open within a few days, I’m reliably informed. What followed was another fabulous night, set in motion by our houseband guest John Parry, who arrived with no pre-arranged set-list. His set included a few special requests from people within the audience, and what a great opening set it was too.

John began with Chuck Berry’s “Nadine” to ease us in before playing the first of the requested numbers - “Tennessee Whiskey” - very much popularised by Chris Stapleton (with a similar feel to “I’d Rather Go Blind”), and very well played too, I must add. With Steve Walsh’s keyboard already set up, we invited him to join the houseband for the remaining five numbers, which seemed to pass by so quickly despite us playing a longer-than-usual set. After double-checking the time, we closed the first set with a nice little rumba titled “Josephine”, which capped off a very impressive performance from the multi-talented John Parry – the guy has far too much talent for one person!

John was back on stage, with the inclusion of Steve Walsh, to play out two more numbers at the end of another memorable night, playing “Born In Chicago” and a lively version of “Caldonia”, which carried on quite late into the night. Like everyone else, we hold much respect for the enormously gifted and unassuming John Parry, and it is always a genuine pleasure to see him here – thank you, John, for another amazing performance!

With 19 jammers here this week and a fairly lengthy houseband set, Vera still managed to arrange six jam-sets, each with three numbers - and, as usual, more surprises were in store with the arrival of bass-player Graham Furney, who I hadn’t seen since our days at The Coach & Horses way back in the year dot. So good to see him. So good also to see bass-player Claire Black back here to give us three more vocal numbers, which included “Fever” – nice one, Claire!

A special mention to drummer Dallas, who travelled all the way from Brighton to be with us this week. I had the pleasure of sharing the stage with him on Billy Sharpe’s jam set. My only regret is that we were unable to award him another jam set. Dallas needed to leave fairly early to embark on his long journey back to Brighton. I sincerely hope we see him again, and to be able to give him longer stints on Phil Overhead’s drum-kit.

A special mention also to Steve Walsh who kindly provided a nice Nord keyboard for the use of our jammers this week. It’s always a great asset to have Steve here, he has most certainly made a great impression on us all these past few weeks! A warm welcome, too, to Tony, who performed a good vocal set before playing drums on his friend Mike Dearing’s jam set.

It was a terrific evening with lots of good music played in the usual good humour - very much following on from the spirirt of the previous week. For that we must thank our houseband guest John Parry, and of course our much-valued jammers. Time to call…

The Roll Of Honour:

• Harp+Vocals - Ray Wallen
• Bass+Vocals - Claire Black
• Guitar+Vocals - Billy Sharpe, Dave Richards and Mike Dearing
• Guitar - Murray, Kevin Molyneux, Chris Greene, Richard Stenhouse and Inigo Manby
• Sax - Peter Harvie
• Harp - Jonathan Reid and Ned Phillips
• Keys - Steve Walsh and Raf Azzara
• Bass - Graham Furney and Terry Duggan
• Drums - John Ward, Dallas, Marc Turner and Phil Overhead

This week’s batch of photos, with thanks to Peter Harvie, can be enjoyed at Our Facebook page

This week’s mp3s will soon be uploaded by our wonderous Webmaster Ken Cumberlidge. Special thanks to everyone who helped to set out the tables and chairs, for setting out the backline and helping to put it all away at the end of the night.

Next time at Leytonstone Blues Jam:
Next week our houseband guest will the “Master Of Fretboard Gymnastics” Conrad Di Ianni, so that promises to be a great night. Please arrive early, grab a seat and enjoy.

Something for the weekend:
Our resident houseband drummer Phil Overhead has now moved his well-supported Blues jam from The Princess Alexandra pub to The Priory Pub, 169 Priory Road, N8 8NB, to be continued every Thursday – well worth a visit!

Blues night continues at The Southgate Club on Friday 26th when their featured band will be the highly rated “Robin Bibi Band” – an opportunity not to be missed ! Support is provided by “Malcolm Hine & Merlin Wildman”. For further details, visit www.stharmonicas.co.uk

On Saturday 27th at The Manor Arms, 150 East India Dock Road, E14 0BP, the featured guest will be Keith Richmond, guesting with Ronnie Collins’ Last Project. Keith will be playing 60s/70s and later classic Rock, Pop and Country throughout the afternoon. 3.00pm-6.00pm – please use beer-garden entrance after 3.00pm, no charge at the door.

Thanking All Our Jammers & Listeners,