ENJOYING NEWCASTLE'S JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL.

Newcastle, or Newcastle-under-lyme, is a borough council situated in the northern end of the West Midlands of the United Kingdom. It is part of the County of Staffordshire and within close and, in some places, contiguous proximity with the historical and unitary local government authority of Stoke-on-Trent.

The month of May has become a special one for the people of Newcastle and those who have come to develop a love of the Annual Jazz and Blues Festival, which the Borough hosts each year.

Monday 30/05/2016 was a Boxing Day - national public holiday - holiday in the United Kingdom, but it also happened to have been the last day of Newcastle's 11th Annual Jazz and Blues Festival, which , on the previous week, saw the now highly regarded British Jazz musician, Courtney Pine, performing at the New Vic Theatre in the town.

The Foyer

And so it was that some closest friends and I decided to travel into Newcastle Town Centre to participate in and share some of what was on offer, with musical events taking place at different venues in the Town, including Yates, Blakey's Cafe' Bar, The Foyer, Revolution, The FreeBird, The Rigger, and the Golden Lion, et al.

Being watched from above.

Newcastle Town Centre was not quite buzzing with shoppers and visitors, but the Street Market was open and catering for those who were tempted to have a look-in, as was the many stores which were also open and hoping to make some money in fair or not so fair exchange for their merchandise.

The view of part of The KILN

Anyway, my closest friends and me decided to listen to our grumbling tummies and headed to a well-known Restaurant and Bar, The KILN, where we availed ourselves of  meals, including of tasty Cibatta chicken, and chicken and bacon sandwiches, with our choice of drinks. The sandwiches, as I have noted, were both taste and substantial, and at what I would consider, in comparison with other similar meals, good value for money.

Having satiated our appetite, we moved on to do some window and real shopping, before making our way to The Foyer, where, after buying some drinks, we made our way to the stage area of the first of the 3 J&BF events we were to observe. And so we sat in front of the band, the Escape Committee, for the next 2 hours and allowed ourselves to be enthralled by their beautiful, jazzy and bluesy music and performance, with our heads nodding, our fingers tapping, our feet moving and tapping but going nowhere except to times goneby - and our whole bodies jittering; atleast, mine was.

The Escape Committee entralling their audience.

Upon leaving The Foyer, we leisurely strolled to Blakey's Cafe' and Bar, where we and the other fortunate patrons were to be entertained by the inimitable Lee Jones Trio. We bought some drinks and sat comfortably in this very spacious and character-filled Cafe' and Bar, with our eyes glued, as it were, to these consummate and unassuming musicians doing what they were there to do; entertaining the patrons and having fun in doing so. Both of which objectives they seemingly effortlessly achieved, with them using their instruments - drum set and two guitars, including a bass guitar, to pose and answer questions of each other, and delivering musical value to us and the rest of their audience. Watching the Drummer enjoying himself playing his drums was nearly as much fun as being entertained by LJT.

The Lee Jones Trio producing the musical goods

As the the still naturally lighted Monday night progressed, we decided to bring to an end our participation in the final night of Newcastle's Jazz and Blues Festival, doing so with a consummate feeling of a day well and enjoyably spent. And, looking forward to the next Festival in 2017.

Part of Newcastle Town Centre