I HAD a close encounter with the jazz world last week, when a lady saxophonist who works as a session-musician and brass player in the London area shared a pre-gig meal with us. Musically we were worlds apart, although I do know many folkies who have a passion for jazz.

I’m not sure there is a reciprocal feeling coming from the other side, and I can recall hearing some jazzers in America some years ago talking about Irish dance music, and concluding that it was “kinda like bebop, but faster”. But, in terms of the way music becomes a life-style that transcends fashion and trends, lovers of jazz and of folk music seem to have lots in common.

My conversation with that lady last week proved that we share unbridled enthusiasm for what we play, but also share the same worries about its future. An ageing audience, a lack of support from official arts bodies, a crowded market place, and a general feeling that the mainstream entertainment world will always view us as quaint, slightly eccentric, outsiders are shared concerns. But, on the plus side, we agreed that the music itself, and the reaction of our audiences to a wide diversity of styles, make it all worthwhile.

So, while I listen to my Bix Beiderbecke CD, let me tell you that highlights around the local folk scene this week include a choice on Saturday between my fellow Bad Penny Andy May, and his trio, at Gateshead’s Sage; top Irish songstress Eleanor McEvoy, at Durham’s Gala Theatre, and award-winning duo Greg Russell and Cialran Algar, at Washington’s Davy Lamp. There are also two chances to hear renowned singer Martyn Wyndham-Read and his Australian ballads this week, at South Shields Customs House on Sunday, and at Stockton’s Sun Inn, on Monday. Here’s to diversity in all its many forms.