It's one of the few benefits of being bloody old. Apart from having the good luck to see Satchmo another evening that lives in my memory was seeing Ronnie Scott's band long before he had a club. That was in The Palais Ashton under Lyne - a building demolished many years ago. To put all that into context I'll be 90 in August. I recall seeing an unknown band called The Rolling Stones in a club behind Piccadilly Circus.
Many folk don't know that the famous Cavern Club in Liverpool started life as a jazz venue with many well known jazz artists playing there included Ronnie Scott, Tubby Hayes and the incorrigible Liverpudlian George Melly.
This was before the rise of the Mersey beat days.
The club was intended to become the top jazz venue outside London and was modelled after Le Caveau De La Huchette in Paris.
Another popular jazz venue was The Iron Door club where I had my first glimpse of the outrageous topless dress.
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