Review of the 2024 Pre-Christmas bash

Well that was a bit of fun... The End of Year Debacle goes off

Myrtle would have been well chuffed. For about the seventeenth time (see note 1) we put on a bit of a celebration of all things of the past year. Which started  with a new venue (last years Christmas bash was the last day at the Vic Wine Centre).  The normal motley crew (see note 2) gathered for the last bash of '24 - and a pleasantly remarkable afteroon ensued. Actually, the Good Captain or someone described it as remarkably pleasant, but I think that is going a bit far...We even played some music along the way, but not in any precedent setting sort of way.. we hope.

It would be invidious to mention some individuals and blithely ignore others. So as no-one knows what invidious means, we will start by mentioning Buddy, who we haven't seen for a while -  sang Let's Get Lost - and Karen, who trucked down from Ballarat, that heaving metropolis at the other end of the Ballarat Highway - fancy the town and the road having the same name - spooky or what?  Fine violin accompaniment of Mei Mei' s rendition of a chinese ballad which, as none of us speak Mandarin could have been about almost anything. Actually none of us speak Zezuru Shona (see note 3) either so it could have been about almost anything else, but probably wasn't.

So.. occasional jammer Lisette Payet was there, as was drummer  Larry Keane, trumpeter Peter Kartu from wherever Peter comes from these days - great to see him - Gaelle at last, Marion's percussive son err David? on congas, Peter Hearne, fresh from an impromptu stint at the Boatshed, and Cardinal Calamatta who closed out the session with Caravan.

A plethora of delights... all of which means I haven't mentioned Mike Powell, Neville Broatch, Roger Evans, Fermin Navascues, Mike Holt, Jeff Harris, Keef, the Good Captaijn, meself, Suzanne, Philip, Meself, John Curtis, Malcolm, trumpeter Graham, Bassists Ivan and the impeccable Andy Moon, singers Chrissie. Kay, Debra D'Ohio, Jane, Rose, Annie, Ruby, drummers Martin, Richard, Bruce; nor the six jammers who were there but didn't get up - Ashley, Andre, Steve Martin, Steve the violin, Derek, Kevin; or indeed, Marg (POCKOTL) and Jeff's mum. 

And I am not going to mention any of them as that would take too long to type out.

We are all off until the next Jam session which will be on 19th January  2025

Note 1 First recorded end of year bash was in 2008

​Note 2 The "Normal Motley Crew". Tragic use of irony

​Note 3 Well, I used to speak a bit but I have forgotten everything except "Good Morning," and Have you got any cigarettes?"​​​​​​