[Dixielandjazz] Coffee, Beer and Jazz

[Ken Mathieson]

Hi All,

Steve Barbone wrote:

"There are as many styles of coffee as there are styles of jazz."

While I like pretty well all styles of jazz, at least up to about 1970, I've never felt the need to stray from the simple classic short black coffee made with high quality beans, whether it's Italian expresso, Spanish cafe solo, Portuguese bica, Brazilian cafezinho, or Turkish. It seems I just like coffee flavour and, if the quality is there, it seems all the extravagant flavourings are simply a marketing trick to sell coffee which lacks top-end quality in the first place.

To try and get jazz back into the thread, I recall how the guys in Fat Sam's band got round the problem of drinking the sponsor's freezing, gassy, tasteless beer at the Sacto Jubilee in the 80s and 90s: We ordered up the largest measure available, about the size of a small plastic bucket, and let it stand for a while. The shape of the bucket allowed the gas to escape fairly quickly and ten minutes in the 100 degree heat of a Sacto afternoon quickly sorted the chilling problem and allowed a modicum of flavour to return. The only remaining problem was lifting a wobbly plastic bucket of beer with one hand between numbers. Sticky hands and a sticky bandstand were the usual results and, while this was none too pleasant on a hot afternoon, it sure beat the time when skunks demonstrated their hatred of jazz under a stage at Calexpo Beer Garden!

Cheers,

Ken Mathieson
www.classicjazzorchestra.org.uk