The Port Melbourne Bowls Club: Packed. 2nd Feb 2025

This was our second week here, and the joint was busy before we arrived: add 30 musos to the list, throw in some hot jazz, and Mick the Manager was well chuffed. So...

Pianos: Philip, John, Malcolm and meself : these would be the jam session's sine qua non if you could hear them.

Guitars: Mike, and The Lounge Lizard all the way from Sydney: the magna melius or the occasio amissa of the jam session. Then Neville was allowed off the bass for a while and smoked a solo - the best, perhaps, of the day.

Saxophones: There seemed to be rather a lot of these. Is somebody breeding them out the back? The Good Captain for starters, Tony Wharton  from Thailand, Jeff in a refreshingly mellow tone, and then... drumroll... Roger Clark back and damned if he didn't play better than ever : Estate the tune du jour. Which rather left Martin the Case and his offsider Leon in the shade, and a late arriving Cardinal Calamatta bringing up the rear - seven saxes equals the most recorded (at the Leinster and The Post Office Hotel). They all sounded equally brilliant, some more than others.

The Drums; Martin, The Hirsch, Richard and a snappily dressed Andre. We could be at a loss to expain the quality of the drumming, but perhaps Haircut Clifton's Gretsch set was responsible. They all chipped in.

The Tonsil Set: Seven of them turned up: Anthony his usual impassioned self, singing God Bless The Child , Ruby on the charge (getting ready for Port Fairy?) a slightly nervous newcomer, Jen, giving it a red hot go (hope she comes back), Debbie and Rose. Martin Case's friend Chess a class above: Summertime a treat.

And then came Steve on violin, swinging like a good 'un; although no cats were harmed in making this review.

Followed by the basses: Ivan, Neville and Steve: les conducteurs à l'arrière all in fine form.

And so, to close our two week residency at the Port Melbourne Bowls Club, none other than MickTheManager, with a fine rendition of Cab Calloway's Minnie The Moocher .

Our thanks to the Bowls Club members - it was a lot of fun​​​​​​