Taken in Tayport,on a visit to the "ootermaist boonds o Fife".

I am convinced that a poem exists containing that phrase but it draws a blank in Google and its anglicized version leads only to a 2009 post in this blog.  Does anyone know?

My visit to Tayport and other faraway spots helped fill an hour or two before a lunchtime concert in St Andrews, one of the dozen or so places in Fife hosting the Fife Jazz Festival.  In the past I've just nipped over to Fife and back but this year there were a number of gigs in St Andrews or thereby that attracted me and not relishing a journey home starting at 11pm I stayed over for a couple of nights.

The expedition was well rewarded with stomping New Orleans numbers from Chris Barber.  That's the music he loves best but he's added strength to the band to equip it to move forward a decade or two and play Duke Ellington.  There was even one daring foray into the late 50s for a Miles Davis tune.  But New Orleans is where his heart is and who would wish to deprive him or his fans of the pleasure of its music.  Still gigging at 84, he deserves a medal.  Actually he's probably already got one.

Alison Affleck and Vieux Carré according to their blurb on Soundcloud are "true to the whimsical, evocative and slightly cheeky attitude of the late 1920s" and "offer up a hearty and delicious good cheer performance".  That's pretty accurate but she did throw in a few downbeat numbers, which aren't hard to find when you're singing Billie Holiday.

In Biggar a few years ago I heard Colin Steele play Chet Baker's music in the intervals between a telling of the trumpeter's life.  It was a great show so I was looking forward to Remembering Chet that again featured Colin Steele on trumpet but with the accent on Baker's vocal legacy.  I wouldn't say I didn't enjoy it.  The performances were excellent but the songs tended to be all on the one level and were downbeat to the point of being soporific.

You couldn't have slept even in the very comfy armchairs of the Byre Theatre Studio where the very loud and lively modern jazz of Strangeness and Charm, led by Richard Ingham on saxophones and wind synthesizer provided a necessary counterweight to the abundance of more traditional music on offer.

There were other gigs I'd love to have gone to but you can't be in two places at once.  It was very gratifying to be in the place I was in, since the Byre closed suddenly about a year ago throwing much into disarray.  I'm told that this weekend didn't herald a permanent reopening.  It will be open again for Stanza, the poetry festival, in March. After who knows.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Something else was threatened with closure last year but is still open, the St Andrews botanic garden.  It was new to me despite having been to the town umpteen times.  It's lovely and I'm very glad that it's still open.