The Jazz Lounge

The Jazz Lounge

When lock down first started I realised that most of my neighbours were spending all day on zoom (well that's what they claimed anyway) and that they probably wouldn't appreciate listening to me practising 'The Girl From Ipanema' whilst they were occupied with profit and loss charts or HR issues.

So what to do? I had loads of time on my hands, the weather was set fair - so I thought that I would practise outside. This is easier said than done. I had done it a few years ago and realised that the best place to do it was as far away from earshot as I could get and at a time when there were the least number of people about. I didn't fancy playing after 11pm - so early mornings it was. But where would be suitable?

After some considerable thought (none) I decided that the seafront would be the ideal place. Past experience had determined that wherever I settled upon had to provide some shade too. Years of surfing in the tropics with nothing on except a pair of board shorts had damaged my skin to the extent that sunbathing, even whilst practising the sax, was a non-starter.

A quick recce of the seafront on my bike threw up some possibilities: near the Hovercraft (too noisy), the war memorial (already occupied by a bagpipe player), the far end of the seafront (a bit too near the nudists). Eventually I spotted the ideal place - one of the iconic Victorian seafront shelters. It ticked all of the boxes - but the clincher was it was the nearest to where I live.

It was a hesitant 06:00 start on the first day. The weather was glorious and the seafront was largely deserted. I sat down, assembled my sax, opened my music book, switched on the metronome and started to play quietly.

After 15 minutes or so, as I hadn't been punched, shouted at, or arrested I became a little bolder (some would say louder) and I chanced my arm with ' Fly Me To The Moon'. It seemed to have a magnetic effect as suddenly there were loads of people on the seafront, running, jogging, walking, preparing to swim, and they all gave me encouraging words, waves, or thumbs up signs as they passed.

At around 08:00 a jogger came by and shouted out "Yes, we have our own seafront Jazz Lounge. Keep it up mate"

By 09:00 I was done (as was my list of tunes I felt brave enough to play) and I returned home. By this time the word was out (so my wife informed me) and local Facebook users were announcing that there was 'a bloke playing the saxophone down at the seafront'.

The Jazz Lounge was becoming a venue.