C Bone and Band at the Tuesday Night Music Club ,Coulsdon

Review and Images by Ken Jackson

It was back in November 2023 when Christopher Hogg, better known as C Bone, and his band first played at the Tuesday Night Music Club. I was hugely impressed by their performance then ,and after tonight’s return show, which again closed with a well deserved standing ovation, I can confidently say the audience was every bit as captivated this time around. The line-up had a slight shuffle tonight, with Ben Fletcher on bass and the welcome return of Graham Turner and Derek Nash on saxophone. Another familiar face was Darren Hurworth on drums, who delivered a fantastic performance and locked in effortlessly with Ben throughout the evening.

The band kicked things off with ‘Dozen Roses,’ the opening track from C Bone’s latest album Live at Project 83, swiftly followed by ‘Come Hell or High Water’ from the 2023 album North Sea Breeze. Clearly at ease and feeding off the energy of a warm, responsive crowd, they powered through their setlist with style and confidence. The first set leaned heavily on material from the North Sea Breeze album, which went down a storm with the enthusiastic audience. After a well earned interval to top up our drinks, I couldn’t help but notice the merch desk was buzzing ,it looked like business was booming. I grabbed a copy of the album after the second set, and even then the desk was still doing brisk trade!

Set two launched with ‘Big Black Mamba’ not a C Bone original, but a cracking choice to reignite the room. The momentum never dipped as the band delivered more superb tracks, mostly drawn from Live at Project 83, sprinkled with a couple of carefully chosen covers. One highlight for me was their rendition of ‘Little Wing,’ which also features on the album and has already started working its way into my favourites at home. Both sax players, Graham and Derek, were in their element all night, weaving rich textures into every song, their musicianship was simply outstanding.

The second set was packed with such strong material that by the time they wrapped up (to yet another standing ovation), there was no room left for an encore. But truthfully, no one left feeling short-changed ,the audience went home completely satisfied after an evening of top class live music. If you get the chance, catch them tomorrow night at the Red Arrow Club in Ramsgate. I highly recommend grabbing a ticket if you can. Huge thanks to Richard Dunning for hosting and promoting another brilliant night, and to Magic Mike for his superb work on sound.