A city centre venue is celebrating an incredible decade of success
Geni Lamb celebrating 10 years of Jazz at Ma Boyle’s Alehouse & Eatery(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Much-loved Liverpool pub Ma Boyle’s is bringing out the birthday cake to celebrate one of the city’s longest-running music traditions. Every weekend, the sounds of smooth jazz spill into the street during the venue’s Saturday night sessions – now set to mark its 10th anniversary.
Although the rowdy yet cosy venue has actually been around for more than 150 years, the business marked its Golden Jubilee since moving into Tower Gardens last year. Old Hall Street previously housed Ma Boyle’s for more than 100 years but guests saw it close on New Year’s Eve in 1973 due to the building’s demolishment to make way for the underground Moorfield station.
Iain Hoskins, the current managing director of Ma Pub Group, stepped into the Ma Boyle’s world in 2015 after it was already open for a few decades. It was a shell of its former Oyster Bar image and despite its new Tower Gardens location, work was desperately needed to reinstate its former glory.
Iain took over the lease and immediately began giving Ma Boyle’s the care and attention it deserved. The venue quickly became known for its unique jazz programmes you couldn’t find anywhere else in the city and established itself as a regular home for live jazz in Liverpool.
Parjazz, a collective of some of the finest jazz musicians in the North West, launched a free Saturday evening show. What began quietly, spreading only by word of mouth, has since grown into the city’s longest-running jazz series, which is still free for to enjoy today.
Geni Lamb celebrating 10 years of Jazz at Ma Boyle’s(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
For the past decade, musician, teacher, and artist Geni Lamb has worked endlessly to help shape the event that so many regulars and newcomers love. The 52-year-old, from Liverpool, grew up in a household filled with jazz, learning flute and piano at just four years old.
However, despite her musical upbringing, jazz wasn’t her immediate passion. Geni told the ECHO: “My dad used to take me to see the Mersey City Jazz Band a lot when I was really young.
“He would take me to see people like Miles Davis and Pat Metheny, and in all honesty, a lot of the time I really didn’t enjoy it. I always enjoyed the funkier, more African influenced side of things. The first band I was ever in that did ticketed gigs was called The Purple Rizzler Experience in 1990s. I didn’t play saxophone at that point so I was playing quite experimental music on the flute.”
At school, Geni’s studies leaned heavily toward classical music – a path she didn’t want to follow, even though she trained formally on classical piano and flute. Geni now teaches popular and commercial music courses in LIPA, ICMP and Water Bear to instil her decades of knowledge and passion into a new generation of musicians.
She said: “I started teaching when I was about 18 but went into it full time in my 20s. The teaching organisation had me teaching everything and I even had to learn how to pick up the clarinet, which I had never done before.
Geni Lamb celebrating 10 years of Jazz at Ma Boyle’s(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
“It was really fulfilling but after a couple of years I realised that this isn’t what I wanted my life to be. So I took the outrageous decision of leaving work and going to LIPA. I wanted to work more in production and get my teeth into jazz, much to my dad’s delight.
“As a saxophone player, it’s a natural evolution. I was playing in lots of soul and funk bands, including a Prince tribute for years. I lived with two saxophone players, both called Dave which became confusing. I took them to loads of gigs and I started to get really into it. They would play tunes and in my unconscious they’d be familiar because my dad played them when I was a kid.”
Parrjazz was already established in Liverpool and the perfect choice to launch Ma Boyle’s very own jazz nights back in 2015. Iain, who boasts his own background in the creative industries as an actor, knew the importance of what an event like this could have for its respective communities.
Geni said: “We were on the same page. We started not long after the venue opened and it was quiet around the edges because people weren’t down this side of town much. It was a little bit out on a limb but people came for the jazz. It just wasn’t always regular. It started to become popular after just a few months and it’s slowly grown.”
Ma Boyle’s jazz nights became a cornerstone of the venue, holding firmly to their weekly slot as the city’s only free Saturday jazz event. Across the years there have been countless stars to grace the event, from singer Mica Paris and the Beatles’ secretary, Freda Kelly to internationally renowned stars in the jazz community.
Geni Lamb celebrating 10 years of Jazz at Ma Boyle’s Alehouse & Eatery(Image: Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)
Geni said: “It’s a lovely pub and it’s authentic. There’s no gimmicks. It’s just good music, good atmosphere created by the staff, good food and drink. It’s just a lovely, earthly, fulfilling gig.
“Its a real melting pot of people who have come over the years. Every week, it’s interestingly different. This is an interactive, holistic gig with the audience. I can’t believe we’ve been here for 10 years. Time flies. 10 years later and it’s incredible to see how big this has become.
“I think the success of this night has been through approaching it for the right reasons, that it’s not purely about money. It’s always been about creating a really nice vibe and gig that’s proved itself through longevity.”
Tonight, Ma Boyle’s will launch its inaugural Latin Jazz Social Club which hopes to enjoy a similar longevity. The jazz evening will celebrate its remarkable decade of success tomorrow, Saturday, October 4, so make sure you’re there early.
Geni and the Parrjazz House Bandits will deliver an extended set with guest appearances from the Parrjazz repertoire of guests and residents over the recent years who have all helped create the enduring and much-loved weekly session.