As you may be aware it’s Glastonbury weekend and the rain has been falling persistently in the South West since the Festival began – that hasn’t stopped it receiving media coverage worthy of a major world event (quite the reverse), which frankly it isn’t. It’s pretty wet in London too. Yesterday we were supposed to see Peter Gabriel perform at this year’s Hyde Park Calling but continual heavy showers dampened our enthusiasm during the afternoon, and our last opportunity to leave coincided with a thunderstorm and torrential rain that lasted for almost an hour, so apologies, but we took the easy option. And tonight’s even better; we’re upstairs dining at the prematurely smoke-free Jazz Café in the company of blues harmonica maestro, Charlie Musselwhite and his band.

Musselwhite is the real deal – born in Mississippi of American Indian descent he moved to Memphis as a child and spent his most formative years in this musical hothouse before travelling north to Chicago. Here he became acquainted with, and performed with, the city’s musical giants such as Muddy Waters and Big Joe Williams, and harmonica greats such as Sonny Boy Williamson, Little Walter and Big Walter Horton. He was particularly close to Waters’ one-time band leader Otis Spann: the two, despite their difference in years, sharing a passion for women and alcohol. Booze killed Spann – Musselwhite battled with alcoholism for many years before drying out in 1987.

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