The Jazz Jammers @ The Comma

As Louis Armstrong sang in one of his movie roles: “Now you has jazz!” Old Satchmo could have been describing the first Mainstream Jazz Jam at The Comma in Castlemaine on May 5. Amateur musos lined up with seasoned professionals to explore the swing, harmony, counterpoint and sheer excitement of the jazz genre. Ted, Ruby and Doug motored up the Calder to contribute perfect piano, soulful singing and bonus bass.

From Bendigo there was Lee on trumpet, Norm on trombone and flugel horn, and Geoff and Barry on drums. On the local front, Lena, Meg, Jude and Vida were among the stylish vocalists, and young Bren on tenor sax and clarinet showed a maturity that matched his older jam companions. Gillian and Terry popped over from the Newstead district to gobsmack everyone with show-stopping songs and dazzling guitar. Simon on vocals and piano reminded us again of Burt Bacharach’s songwriting skills. There was more musical talent than you could poke a conductor’s baton at, but organisers were having too much of a good time to get all the names — and some of the email addresses were on the quirky side.