Two weeks of Tube strikes - the longest and most savage ever for the Underground - were today ordered by union barons in protest over two sacked train drivers.

The strikes by hundreds of drivers will begin Monday 16 May and affect every day of that week, ending at 9pm on Friday 20 May.

Strike action will begin at 9pm on Monday 16 May and last until 11.59 am on Tuesday 17 May.

It will then begin again at 12 noon on Wednesday, 18 May, lasting until 11.59am on Thursday 19 May.

On Friday 20 May the strike again begins at 12 Noon lasting until 9pm that evening.

News has just been announced that for the week commencing 16th May until 20th May, there will be a full blown strike on the London Underground, which means for many people travelling to see EC at RAH during that week will be problematic to put it mildly, unless you are staying a stone's throw from RAH.

So for those not only coming to see EC , but also to do a bit of sight seeing, be prepared to familiarise yourselves with London bus routes, unless of course you have a king's ransom to be able to afford to ferry yorself around London using taxis. Whatever alternative mode of transport you prefer, it will be chaotic....you have been warned ! And here's what this is all about....

A New Orleans-style “Layla” with a gospel kick was the surprise addition to the concert Wynton Marsalis and Eric Clapton performed last night in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall.

It was the one Clapton song in a program focused on traditional blues.

“Wynton brought it up in rehearsals, and Eric said the only way he’d do it is if it’s New Orleans-style,” trumpeter Marcus Printup said at the post-concert gala dinner at Roseland Ballroom. Marsalis arranged the song overnight “and Eric took care of the rest,” said Printup.

Preparing to dig into a chocolate cupcake, Printup then recalled his own favorite moment of the concert: when Clapton said he was nervous.

“He looked nervous, too! What it reminds me of is that I’m a firm believer that you can always learn more,” Printup said.

The combination was winning on stage and off. The gala event raised $3.6 million for Jazz at Lincoln Center, drawing an eclectic crowd including” Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and chief executive of Goldman, Sachs & Co.; Newark, New Jersey, Mayor Cory Booker; singer John Legend; and Glenn Lowry, director of the Museum of Modern Art.