The Lovely Husband, in addition to being lovely, is a stellar travel genius. Since childhood he has absorbed maps and travel paraphanalia in a way that just leaves me dizzy. This is a good thing as while I am the planner of the two of us, for some reason I just can't get my head around travel planning. Too much choice, too many places, too many options, too much to squeeze into a weekend, a week, two weeks. Maybe this is why I prefer to live in places I travel to rather than just pass through.

Anyway, it appears I lucked out with the Lovely Husband as nothing gives him more pleasure than to plan and execute our travel. My honeymoon was a complete surprise right up until we got to departures at Schiphol the day after our wedding - and he did a gooooood job. Spa hotels - tick, sunset sails around islands - tick, speedboat rides to remote island restaurants - tick. This one's a keeper.

So I had no fears, no fears at all when he took full charge of our America trip. Even once we got on the plane I had only the vaguest idea of our itinerary. Over the next few days the plans got much clearer but he kept the New York section, the final four days of our trip completely to himself.

With very good reason, he had planned the most excellent surprises for me.

Surprise One - Staying in a very nice hotel on Times Square.
Surprise Two - An offer of tickets to any Broadway show I wanted to see (in the end we got very lucky at the TKTS booth and got a pair of tickets for the show we wanted at a 50% discount - score).
Surprise Three - Dinner and Jazz. Yes, I know, it's not for everyone and I must admit that even I was slightly hesitant. I only like certain types of Jazz and I couldn't tell you what those types are - if my toe taps, I like it. So this could have gone horribly wrong. But this was no ordinary Jazz. Oh no. This was Jazz at the ultra swank Carlyle Hotel. So Jazz and a really good dinner. I was thrilled.

We hopped in a yellow cab and slid through the dusk of Manhattan towards the black and gold art deco entrance of the Carlyle.

Outside I spotted posters for two female singers. "Hmm" I said "Debbie Reynolds... isn't she famous". Really, I have no clue.

Inside there was another poster board resting on a gold easel. "Oh my goodness darling, look, Woody Allen plays here" I walk a little closer "He's playing here tonight!" long pause, realisation dawns "You.Did.Not".

But of course he did, because he knows that I have a fondness for Mr Allen (not in that way, eugh, he's old enough to be my.... yeah, he really did himself no favours with that one.), because he knows that Woody Allen in Manhattan would make my eyes larger than saucers and because he know music genres better than I do and so knew that I really really enjoy New Orleans Jazz.

We started with dinner which was excellent. I can only ever remember what I ate at restaurants (when I can remember at all), I appear to have a very single minded focus on my food to the exclusion of everyone elses.

Starter: Prawn Cocktail (Lovely, loads of fresh prawns and just the right amount of horseradish in the cocktail sauce).
Main: Roasted Halibut with a bourgogne jus and baby golden beets on a bed of spinach. Gratin potatoes as a side dish.
Dessert: Nada. We had over indulged earlier in the day.

About half way through the main course the band finished setting up and took their places. Into the last remaining seat on the corner of the stage crept Woody Allen with his clarinet. And then they began. And it was wonderful. Superb music and a real proper musicians. I don't know what others in the very small but very packed dining room were expecting but for me it was everything you expect dinner and Jazz to be. Small tables, crisp linen, little table lights and music washing over you.

Other, more prepared attendees, had brought cameras. Alas, this was the one detail the Lovely Husband overlooked so I have no photos to share but for me it wasn't really about the photos and once Woody Allen got on stage it wasn't even really about him. The band were just too good as an ensemble for anyone person to stand out amongst them. I really enjoyed it, the perfect surprise.

In a former church, just off one of the busiest squares in Amsterdam the Husband followed me as I tried to secure a good vantage point with a surface to lean against.

"Here. No. Here. No. Ok. Here. I promise, here is fine."

And oh, how it was.

We had bought tickets for Jools Holland before Christmas around in a mass ticket purchase for upcoming gigs at the Paradiso, including tickets for Luka Bloom and Ray LaMontagne. At 24 Euro, Jools was the most expensive and also the one we waited longest for.

Due to an unseasonably warm evening (oh, and also because someone *ahem* me, forgot the tickets and had to go home for them *ahem*), we eschewed the warm up acts to sit in the sunshine with beer and nachos.

I love going to the Paradiso. It is such a fantastic venue. The stage sits in front of three huge illuminated stained glass windows and there is seating on two upper balcony levels, if you get there early enough. Reminiscent of a pared down music hall, it is a small venue, which is great if you are in the audience because you can actually see the people on stage even if you are standing at the back. I had wondered if the stage was big enough to hold the 18 piece Rhythm and Blues Orchestra, for Luka Bloom it was just one man and his guitar. Even Ray LaMontagne filled the stage up with five people. No doubt, it was a tight fit but the entire Orchestra and a grand piano fit right up there.

I can honestly say that I have never been to a concert before where the artists were having such a great time. It was a party on stage from the moment Jools set foot on stage until they trooped off at the end of the second encore. They danced, sang, played, whooped, clapped and shook any tambourine they could get their hands on. It was infectious, the crowd couldn't stop moving along with them.

When we booked the tickets Marc Almond was listed as a guest vocalist but when I checked the listing on Friday morning I discovered, to my delight, that Ruby Turner had been added to the line up as well. The supporting vocalists, Rosie May and Louise Marshall were excellent but Ruby Turner came out to rapturous applause and just blew the roof right off.

I truly thought that Ruby would be the highlight of the night for me but I was utterly unprepared for the showmanship of Marc Almond. Although he seemed slightly uncertain as he began his first song, by the time he soared into the big band chorus of "Say Hello, Wave Goodbye", he was lighting up the stage. The audience couldn't keep from dancing, hands in the air, singing along with him. He was absolutely amazing, very theatrical and absolutely compelling to watch. There wasn't an off moment in the entire two hour performance.

I bounced out of the venue still dancing, I don't think I've stopped yet.

This video was recorded in 2005, and though its good I can assure you Friday's performance blows its cotton socks off.