On 6th/7th November I had the pleasure of spending a weekend in Northern Ireland for a couple of gigs. A friend who I used to play jazz with when we both lived in the North West of England - Dan Forshaw - moved to Belfast a couple of years ago and has been busy establishing some decent, regular jazz nights.
So the Saturday night was a jazz gig in Bert's Jazz Bar, at the Merchant Hotel. Bert's does live jazz every night, and it's even got a veranda outside to which music is pumped, day and night. Here I am the morning after, listening to some very sultry Sarah Vaughn. (Unfortunately the camera couldn't cope here with the bright sunlight... apparently we had experienced one of the only Autumn weekends with sunshine since Dan had moved there!)
We were lucky enough to be put up in this (very 5*) hotel. I'd never been in such a place. Our small bags were carried without question by the charming William - who then proceeded to give us a guided tour of our room. We couldn't have been looked after better.
The gig was enjoyable - great to play with new musicians - although in a hotel bar, it's unlikely that you'll get much of a listening audience. However, we had a few requests and a few appreciative comments amongst the irregular applause. I have to say, it was wonderful to do a gig and then crawl into bed less than 5 minutes later, in a room that is one of the most elegant I have ever been in!
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| Me and Dan |
Sunday started with a 'full Irish' - deliiicious! The dining room had high ceilings, columns, cherubs adorning the walls and everything else you could imagine of such a place. We followed breakfast by a trip to the next gig - at SD Bell, a lovely little tea and coffee house in the Knock area of Belfast. Each Sunday top-quality jazz and atmosphere is served, for no entry fee.
Overall a very enjoyable weekend, and hopefully at some point I'll be back.
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