Any Thing Goes (l to r): Ivan Thompson, Dave Stone, Mike Marsh, Gerry Birch (Malcolm Walton on keyboard not in view)
Gerry Birch emailed me recently, “I look forward to seeing you at The Star whenever you have time. It is a gig I am particularly proud of because, as I have written before, when it first started, I had severe doubts about its sustainability. Yet here we are, well into the second year and as far as I can tell, things are looking good for a third year.”
Dave Stone & Gerry Birch
These days when the trend is for pubs to close their doors on jazz, Barry, the publican at The Star in Old Wives Lees, welcomes jazz fans weekly for Thursday night gigs organised by Gerry.
Ivan Thompson & Malcolm Walton
Just last month I was at The Star when Gerry’s band “Anything Goes” lived up to their name with a mix of the blues and mainstream jazz and vocals, highly suited to a rather sultry July evening.
Mike Marsh
So I make a point of timing my visits to old friends in East Kent so that we can take in jazz at The Star. After all, Old Wives Lees is just a few miles from Canterbury which was something of a hot bed of jazz in my erstwhile youth.
Fans enjoying an oasis of jazz at The Star
Malcolm Walton on keyboard
Jane Birch
(Photos © Peter M Butler, Jazz&Jazz)
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