All artists, ttle mad. to a certain extent, a self-created myto keep ty a creative community. Yet, in tists, tric are alful and admiring of to be genuinely a little mad.

    t reated --  and admiration; for t t Jameson er.

    And ter   of cigarettes, or a beer if ed one. taking care of t around to doing  must also be admitted t he was a very fine bass player.

    In t, lay trouble. For , gleaming, voluptuous bass, ress to  eadfast passion.

    Jameson  man acles -sig any was a big baby for one so frail-looking as o carry.

    t beautiful bass in t of a full-breasted, full-ain primitive effigies of tially feminine was sripped of irrelevancies of head and limbs.

    Jameson spent nut colour, to an ever deeper, ever ricour,  placidly in take Lola from  padded rembling emotion. take out a special, soft silk  to  not-sig.

    treated like a lady. tarted to buy ea in cafés for a joke. Later it ceased to be a joke and became a . tra drink  ill on table, cold and untouched.

    Jameson alook Lola into cafés but never into public bars because, after all, s Lola a pineapple juice, altimes so take a glass of s festive occasions like Cmas or a birthday or when someones wife had a child.

    But Jameson oo muctention and  a man oo many liberties ious remarks.

    Jameson o strike a man once   Lola in Jamesons presence. So nobody ever joked about Lola where.

    But innocent young musicians  t to sour. So Jameson and Lola usually o trumpeter, Geoff Clarke,  Jameson ruly o  and per to book te for t some el, sometime.

    But Clarke gave Jameson a good job in rad group t  End Syncopators. Ignoring t ecoppers and tail coats  End Bluesquot; (plus need to top ty.

    tesque in grey toppers and none more grotesque t till made money.

    Making money,  day after day spent in a converted Green Line bus travelling up and dory from one one-nigand to t. It meant dates at corn exco constant bone-ant cas and t. tion.

    quot;trad boom aint going to last for ever, so lets enjoy it!quot; said Len Nelson, ttist.

    or, rad boom o lure star-struck young girls from ts up into el bedroom and te o a lesser extent, ted.

    Except, of course, Jameson, ice t trad o play.  it y of t offend Lola.

    One nigo play at a small toes of East Anglia. Darkness came ernoon, dragging mist  to fill traigurn or dip and w wo perform was .

    quot;Are ting us?quot; asked Dave Jennings, t a lighe pub.

    A frayed poster pinned to t tened t t;Friday nig -- ing,  parade  End Syncopatorsquot;  indecipherable.

    quot;ell, its not opening time, yet,quot; comforted Len Nelson.

    quot;Mores ty,quot; grunted Jennings.

    quot;Of course ting us,quot; said Geoff firmly. quot;ts e in t it, Simeon?quot;

    tetic Jeenor sax man  of nostalgia for aring at t, frightened eyes.

    quot;I dont like it ; ;t;

    quot;Bloody lot of  in t; grumbled Nelson. quot;Bet t .quot;

    quot;Dont come terious East,quot; Geoff urged Simeon.

    Simeon satedly and se of t, turned-up collar of . age Jerong Yiddis alted members of ter bourgeoisie for nearly 150 years.

    But t and er. Jameson  Lola, o buy o take to ts and explain about Lola, quietly.

    But Simeons slender, delicately pointed nose  aquiver y, smelling sometrouble in t air. t Anglian air  his club.

    quot;Bit old  people in for te a  students, even, and a fes  teds, ill even  collars to ts!quot;

    t once became embarrassed and bougo cover o stay t at ts unimposing fa?ade. Simeon crept ao feel ts on  immediately set up a sympatic tickling.

    Jameson,  ao tted. rument and sat  in ted for to open, t ced, ttle platform for ted.

    But tent unease in t. t and ter became defiant as tried to frig. And ts caug, depressed infection until t sitting around, drinking for  of someto do. But Jameson ing aween his knees.

    As tform, t customers arrived and stood around  s of bitter. Music began; tomers ed passively for t extrovert couple  to dance.

    type, ters ucked casually into tricked out in pseudo beat style, black or ockings, loose dresses ors, clergymen, teacired soldiers, probably students in t scs and drove battered old cars and endency to collect ttle crays eran cars on them.

    Just before t break, a black-legged girl in a s little pleated skirt and a youtrousers ventured, giggling, on to to dance; t made t one anoto fill. Art students from a nearby to ty of crop-s, ance. ts ed noses and Italian suits. tudied formality, faces stylised, pale ced eyes, e, stiff h lacquer.

    ts c s joked about top s and triped trousers and ronising about quot;est End Bluesquot; and, in fact, trad setup altoget because to be not nigo spray .

    But ted orcycles outside took off ts and left tely, like music jackets creaking. Simeon personally tore off ts for tc for bro the bar.

    quot;Noential trouble t friends of yours,quot; admonishe Boy David. Simeon sighed.

    quot;You   it be possible, could I get a glass of  milk?quot;

    Inside ting and t seemed almost a tangible, brazen  End Syncopators were e.

    But ts kept apart from taken over one particular corner for t dancing but standing up to their beer, laughing and grinning.

    ted and gulped restorative bitter bets and ties and mopped tations made on top s. It  like any ote.

    Just like any ote until one of ts spilled tocks of a to urned, angry.  made ill. to -jacketed escort and ts stood all round and leered.

    quot;And arent you going to say sorry to te?quot; tner sed above the music.

    ts closed ranks like a snapped clasp-knife. tinguis once.

    quot;And  particularly sorry? asted all my beer, I ;

    A group of Italian youted to gat arted. to a fine ragout of cries, ss, bloerior les as t in figtle smased electric bulb and ts launctack on terrified and striking little matco see somettle.

    quot;t sucop ty!quot; gasped Simeon.

    tives came scurrying past sened Susans, Brendas, and Jennifers. But t students clustered safely at to giggle. tiged teddy girls dropped ty; like valkyries ttle, cers on. ted faces flickered in and out of t t trickled the public bar.

    No aside top s, truments and trality. Simeon saain in termittent ligalian youte lapels and sil th gaped open, howling.

    quot;Not ever ; t exclaiming in an apologetic frenzy. terings and trembling. Simeon took o te bar to sootch.

    quot;Quite like t famous,quot; panted Nelson, defending the microphone.

    But it  tied like a bat. ttle exclamations of triumphe room.

    quot;ould I be suco call t; demanded Simeon rorically. So t for a drink.

    quot;; said someone later, quot;;

    quot;Not since ts  out.quot;

    quot;ell,  matter? Im going to bed,quot; said Simeon. quot;Ive a dreadful cold coming, I feel it. Not t going to bed s are . . .quot;

    t about Jameson until very mucer, o bed. Geoff and Nelson, decently o go and  took a lig into t  all ttered glass and broken co the floor.

    Sobered at once, Geoff climbed on to tage and poked anxiously among truments remaining. Miraculously, ts accessories  a casualty on terrible t  a nut-coloured firewood.

    quot;O,quot; artled at tone of t;Jameson, o tell Jameson, Len? ;

    tood toget Lolas patic fragmented corpse. Botoucitious sorro go into public bars ers.

    quot;Do you kno seem rigo talk in a loud voice.

    quot;I  seen rouble began.quot;

    quot;Even if  to  of company, at a time like t;

    quot;Maybe ;

    t from t Jameson tic room  top of t-  into t blurred t after fligairs. It e, no, cold. t . Stricken, Nelson clutc Geoff.

    quot;Len, its all rig take on. It must be a fuse, or sometten old ;

    But  an alien, almost tangible somet it in t-soaked air on their cheeks.

    quot;A lig;

    Geoff clicked te liginy flame only intensified topmost landing.

    quot;;

    ter  a curned on ty case of a double bass on taffeta bedspread. t Lola  lie in it, alt was her own.

    And in till circle of lig, gently, back, le face black and ted. Bedded deep in  silken rag, to polised on th him -- his glasses, dropped, broken.

    A sodden er flame at once. t t eacened children.

    In a room beneattle rickled tting ickled Simeon Prices t so t irred a little, uneasily, in his sleep.