Colin Aitchison has come up with this gem from 1955.
Thank you Colin.
Can anyone tell me more about the bands?
The Panama, very well known locally. The Vieux Carré are still going strong.
The Cellarmen were lead by Colin's dad, Hughie. Fred Rowe fronted the Rivermouth. Pete Drysdale, I think, is still around but I know nothing of the Apex Jazzmen or the Barrelhouse. Can anyone help?
(Russell has unearthed info that John Ronan played trombone with the Rivermouth Jazzmen. John is now playing with the Harlem Hot Stompers out Manchester way - if you read this we'd love to hear from you.)
Lance.
It was a wonderful night. At the time I was also playing drums with the Vieux Carre and Don (Armstrong) was with the Panama so we both had a busy night. Even more so for me as at the last minute the drummer with the Apex got "stage fright" and I took his place.
ReplyDeleteContrary to the program the Apex were from Newcastle not Darlington - perhaps the organisers wanted to internationalise the event!
Clarinet player with the Apex was Gerry Routledge.
A few weeks earlier a friend, Barry Gristwood, and I had opened the Whitley Bay Jazz Club at the Empress Ballroom cafe at Whitley Bay. Don had been talking about "modern jazz" and mentioned Ian Carr, who he had met at Newcastle Varsity, and his brother Mike Carr. As a result the north's first modern jazz group was formed under my name by the four of us plus Ray Jobling on bass as the resident band at WB with visitors each week from other bands including the Cellarmen. As a result we entered the comp at the Oxford. As you know Ian (who died last year with Memorial concerts in London and Gateshead) and Mike went on to great things in the jazz world.
Happy memories.
Regards
Peter