Jazz Club? Nice

John Thomson's turn as Louis Balfour in The Fast Show's Jazz Club skits may not have been to all tastes, pandering as it did to the stereotype that Jazz is loved only by pretentious pseuds in roll-neck sweaters, but they had a side-effect of programming the brains of those that watched them to utter the words "nice" or "great" whenever the J-word is used.

That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. 

Despite never owning a roll-neck sweater, or smoking a pack of Gauloises in a dark cellar, I must confess that I'm partial to some flavours of Jazz. The works of Tord Gustavsen, The Bad Plus and the late Esbjörn Svensson all sit comfortably amongst the selection of Indie, Alt-Rock, Electronica, Rap and Pop in my record collection. However, despite that, I can wilt under the excesses of some performers (Courtney Pine for example), excesses which cause said stereotypes to flourish and my tapping foot to steer clear.

News that Southsea's Coastguard Studio has partnered with Chichester's La Havana Jazz Club, to bring Jazz to the heart of Portsmouth in 2019, could well get me to direct my Converse to The Strand for an evening of mellifluous delights (especially as Portsmouth's long running Jazz club is shuttering in December).

The monthly club night promises international artists (the excellent Gilad Atzmon is amongst the initial tranche announced), supplemented by local DJs spinning vinyl. Not to further reinforce a stereotype but all I can say is great.