CHINESE TAKEAWAY, HOT AND FRESH (JON-ERIK KELLSO, GRAHAM HUGHES, MICHAEL McQUAID, LARS FRANK, DAVID BOEDDINGHAUS, FELIX HUNOT, HARRY EVANS, RICHARD PITE at the Mike Durham Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party, November 3, 2022)

Whose honey are you? In 2009, Billie supervised the breakfast condiments.

Forward to the 2022 Mike Durham Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party.

CHINATOWN, MY CHINATOWN might have stayed as an obscure pop tune, its lyrics more than slightly suspect, if Louis Armstrong — who loved Asian cuisine — had not recorded it. You can find his versions and those of Red Nichols, Fletcher Henderson, and the Cambridge University Quinquaginta Ramblers online without wrinkling your clothing through exertion.

But as an appetizer to the delightful cuisine that follows, I offer a recording that not enough people have heard, Reginald Foresythe’s HOMAGE TO ARMSTRONG:

You can also chase down versions by Art Tatum, Jack Teagarden, the Georgia Washboard Stompers, Hot Lips Page with Eddie Condon, Lionel Hampton, Roy Eldridge, Slim and Slam, Sidney Bechet, Teddy Wilson, Punch Miller, Kid Ory, Louis Prima, George Lewis.

But here’s a wonderful version from just a few days ago, captured at a night-time jam session at this year’s Mike Durham Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party by Emrah Erken, he of the roving iPhone (his YouTube channel, a basket of marvels, is “Atticus Jazz”). The participants are Jon-Erik Kellso, Puje trumpet; Graham Hughes, trombone; Michael McQuaid, clarinet; Lars Frank, tenor saxophone; David Boeddinghaus, piano; Felix Hunot, banjo; Harry Evans, string bass; Richard Pite, drums.

This music doesn’t come tepid in a little cardboard box. Thank you, all!

May your happiness increase!