All that Jazz – The After Thought in Little Rock, Arkansas

Before the show at The After Thought

Despite a long drive from Texarkana, Miki and I were ready to venture into the town of Little Rock on Monday night in search of music. We found it at The After Thought, a modern, yet inviting bar on the outskirts, serving great value draft beer and boasting a house quartet well-versed in modern jazz.

I’d decided to wear my New Orleans Saints shirt that night, so you can imagine my delight when we discovered that the backdrop to the stage was a giant mural depicting Bourbon Street in our favourite city!  Now, Modern Jazz is not normally my music of choice, but I nevertheless welcomed the chance to hear it played live, and well – and with the band hosting a handful of impromptu appearances from other local musicians, it was a treat.  A local music professor got up and gave a great rendition of Ramsey Lewis’ classic The In Crowd.

Kev giving it large.....

Resisting my “busman’s holiday” trait no longer, I opted to sing Someone to watch over me, a classic performed by artists as diverse as Tony Bennet, Ella Fitzgerald and Elton John, and accompanied expertly by their pianist I delivered it as best I could!

The audience seemed to receive it well, and I sat down to enjoy some virtuoso (to my untrained jazz ears, at least!)  solo trombone from another musical member of the audience. All in all, it was a nice, easy intro to the Little Rock music scene, and set us up nicely for the coming week.

Lettin' it slide.....

                                                                   Kev Moore