Feb 24th
Darkness sweeps in across the land, over sacked eugenicist spad and microbriefing wonk alike, over the chartered streets and soggy horrible edgelands, over the smirking edgelords and the poor defeated beardies, over triumphant Tyson and battered Deontay, over eager Kier and his jolly chums, over Julius the equivocal and Harvey the damned, over the cancellers and the cancelled .. peak times for all, but you can sorta swerve it by ducking along to JAZZ NIGHT AT THE BEE’S MOUTH where despite the prevailing winds we’ll be spinning a magical web of of pure good vibes thanks to the uplifting musical genius of special guest artist, king of the Brunswick and highly trained combat specialist Paul “Ghostface Killa” Richards (gtr) and the endlessly and unpredictably creative Loz “Pound On The Top Line” Thomas (drms) .. I’ll be there on bass, special guests may breeze in upon the winds of happenstance to grace the proceedings, the peerless Bee;s team will be on hand to cater to your bibulous desires, so if your so-called friends are making you feel as welcome as a sneeze on a cruise ship, if your life goals seem to be receding, with rude and mocking gestures, into a waiting Uber bound for somewhere much nicer that you will never go to, if everything you see on socials just makes you feel worse, if your resting bitch face is now the only face you possess, then you need to get yerself out of your eyewateringly overvalued residence, away from the malign influence seeping out of your tethered device, and come and join us as we get together to build a thing… one step at a time, easy does it.
Feb 17th
Now the incontinent winds of Storm Boris have sent our little red wagon careening crazily along the shingled foreshore into a bright new future of government by Weirdos and Misfits, let’s see what outside the box bluesky thinking they can deliver - Eugenic racism! Trial by ordeal! Ducking stools in every courtroom! If you’re feeling temperamentally unsuited to this brave new world and all the mediatized creatures in it, come to JAZZ NIGHT AT THE BEE’S MOUTH and enter into our own micro-climate of integrated inclusive individuality where you can tune into the good bait we will be presenting for you thanks to the tireless talents of Luke “Tuff We Tuff” Rattenbury (gtr) and Loz “Only A Self-Constructed Collective Subjectivity Can Overcome the Strictures Of Internalised Normative Neoliberalism” Thomas (drms) as they deliver another irresistible concoction of the henchest hot licks and cool grooves simmered together into an enriching gumbo of blues-to-bop-to-swing-to-whatever…I’ll be there with my bass, the fearless heroes of the Bee;s Team will be waiting, ensconced in swirls of gothic glory, behind the well-stocked bar, it’ll be lit, so don’t spend the evening trying to boost your tragic insta strategy, or making out like Love Island is still a good thing that makes you relatable, or weeping while trawling TikTok in a last desperate search for meaning, or trying to compose epic poetry in Urartian, Khinalug, Woleaian, Nahuatl or Kickapoo - slip on your Vaporflys and come and join us, before we say Good Yard, good yard, good yard, but not for ever, let's take it Higher Than The Sun…
Feb 10th
How’s the brave new windy decade of freedom rolling for you so far? Are you going all Philip Scofield for total fearless self-realisation, or are you holding back in case it all goes a bit Jameela Jamil? Are you setting hard deadlines and opening tough negotiations, or are you curled up behind the sofa waiting for the Rapture to sunder you from your dental work forever? Let JAZZ NIGHT AT THE BEE’S MOUTH be an anchor of stability in these trying times, cos we’re back once again with our doughty captains Luke “Nemo” Rattenbury (gtr) and Loz “Ahab” Thomas (drms) with their super-talented fingers firmly on the wheel/tiller/hyperspace drive, ready to cast off on another thrilling voyage of discovery upon the high seas of rhythm and melody armed with a locker full of hot licks and cool grooves, assisted in some circumspect manner by me on bass, while the lusty buccaneers of the Bee’s team stand by under the command of intrepid cosmic adventurer Jack Rowan, and the pallid creatures of the night flock by on the bitter pavements outside upon their journeys towards the end of the night…. we are such stuff as dreams are made on, our little lives rounded with a sleep, so even if the signs and portents seem to be ticking all the boxes from locusts to plague to flood to wildfire to Priti Patel on a pale horse, don’t be afraid, don’t turn your back on love, don’t turn around, be of good cheer, Patience Strong, just pop on your Hazmat suit and stroll down to join us, unless you’ve been skiing in Chamonix recently, in which case maybe leave it for a week or two…. Derevaun Seraun, derevaun seraun, Let’s celebrate the setting forth, even as the returning, even as the coming back…