June 18, 2006
This new jazz night at QI is based around Ben Walker’s band ‘Peter Parker’, who play for most of the evening, and will be playing every week. Ben Walker, singer and keyboardist, clearly knows what he’s doing. He plays a range of soulful, funky and more traditional jazz with a lot of skill. It’s not exactly groundbreaking stuff, but I imagine he could well turn his hand to more experimental jazz if he wanted to.
Other singers and musicians chip in, and while it’s not quite an open mic night, if you come down and talk to Cat and Chyna, the evening’s organisers, it should be easy to get involved.
The QI bar is quite small, and ‘Peter Parker’ are mostly loud and energetic, so the atmosphere is actually quite pumped-up, rather than the low-key bohemian grooviness you may be looking for on a Sunday evening. The crowd seems to be predominantly from Oxford’s more well-heeled circles.
There are cheap drinks on offer, including some cocktails, and you can also buy plates of nibbles. It’s a fun evening, and it’s easy to get caught up in the enthusiasm generated by Peter Parker and their chums.