Luton Jazz Boom (1958-63)

My mum mentioned to me recently that she went to a jazz club in Luton at the TUC Hall in Church Street around 1960, which got me searching the archive. Its seems that the town, like many other parts of the country, experienced a jazz boom in the late 1950s with several weekly clubs running.In 1958 the New Orleans Jazz Club was running a Sunday night 'Jazz at the Dome' at the Cresta Dome Ballroom in Alma Street, while the New Luton Jazz Club was happening every Thursday at the TUC Hall. Over the course of that year some of the big names on the trad jazz circuit played in Luton, including Mick Mulligan, George Melly and Acker Bilk at the New Luton Jazz Club, and Cy Laurie. The latter's gig at the Cresta was promoted by the Delta Jazz Club - not sure if this was the New Orleans Jazz Club renamed or a different faction in the fractious jazz scene of the time. There was a promise of 'non-stop jiving'.There were local bands too including the Leaside Seven (sometime Leaside Six), the…