Jamie

It was Jamie McDermott's 30th birthday yesterday, and he had a get-together at the George in the Strand.
His band, The Irrepressibles, have been doing incredibly well, he's been very busy and I haven't seen him for ages so I decided to go along and party with him.
That part of the Strand is weird- it seems perpetually winter, even in summer (I went to a wedding there a few years ago and even in high summer it was gloomy and a chill pervaded the air), and also seems to have lagged behind the march of history (it seems to have stuck itself in the 17th Century in spite of modern buildings that have settled on it's old soul).
Brrr!
Inside the pub, though, all was cheerful. His extended family sat at tables, draped in black lace and eating crisps. Jamie was late, but arrived in high spirits with his consort, Jacob, and the night became jolly and musical. His father, an actor, and his brother sang a set of songs that included some Brecht and Weill numbers, and a duo followed them on Casio keyboard, scrunched together and roaring with laughter as they sang.
Piece-de-resistance of the evening was Jordan Hunt, who appeared from the back of the room wearing half a white paper horse strapped to his head and assorted ruffles on his naked torso, playing his violin and miming to a cacophonous medley of diva songs, at one point applying copious quantities of fucshia lipstick to his mouth... then the area around his mouth... then drawing two lipstick hearts on his chest.
He pulled Jamie from the audience and gave him a big sloppy smacker, transferring greasy smudges of fuchsia on to Jamie's face.
What fun! It shut me and Helen White up: we hadn't seen each other for ages. She used to be a student of mine, and she's now doing really well, making a classical album for Boosey and Hawkes amongst other things. There was lots to say.
Eva the singer was there too, good natured and smiling; her boyfriend used to be in a band called Moses who had supported the Daintees, and he told me he recognised me from the Jazz Cafe which was very flattering.
At the end, Jamie was joyfully in his cups and clamped me to his side with a loving arm. He's very strong and very tall and very affectionate. He gave me a big kiss and made my face pink too, and this morning when I woke up I still smelled of his delicious aftershave!
I did take a photo of Jordan and if it's any good I'll post it later.