For the past eighteen years we've been updating the world about jazz in the north east of England and updating the north east of England about jazz in the world. WINNER of the Jazz Media Category in the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Contact lanceliddle@gmail.com
July
Thu 16: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 16: Spennymoor Big Brash Bash @ Jubilee Park, Spennymoor. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Thu 16: Coxhoe Little Brass Bash @ Village Green (Pit Wheel). 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Thu 16: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Lollo Rosso, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Free. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Thu 16: Stevie Jay Duo @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Julija Jacenaite & Steve Glendinning.
Thu 16: DK Harrell @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf. USA blues.
Thu 16: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Fri 17: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Seaham Big Brass Bash @ Terrace Green, Seaham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Fri 17: Newton Aycliffe Big Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Fri 17: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 17: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm. Free. Lollo Rosso, Morpeth. 8:00pm. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Sat 18: Streets of Brass @ Market Place, Durham City. 10:00am-4:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands.
Sat 18: Brass Boat Cruise @ Boathouse, Elvet Bridge Jetty, Durham City. Departures at 10:30am, 12 noon, 1:30pm, 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £5.00 (all prices + bf). Durham Brass Festival. Various bands.
Sat 18: Party in the Park @ Wharton Park, Durham City. 5:00-9:00pm. Free. Durham Brass Festival. Multi-bill of street brass bands. Entrance o/s Durham Railway Station (Northbound platform).
Sat 18: Zoë Gilby & Dean Stockdale @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm.
Sat 18: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00.
Sat 18: Tyne Valley Big Band + Revolutionaires @ Pelton Community Centre. 7:00pm. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 18: Dale Storr @ The Straw Yard, The Barracks, Berwick. 7:30pm. £15.38. Solo piano.
Sat 18: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Red Lion Inn, Alnmouth. 8:30pm. Free. Lollo Rosso, Morpeth. 8:00pm. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Sun 19: Brass Boat Cruise @ Boathouse, Elvet Bridge Jetty, Durham City. Departures at 10:30am, 12 noon, 1:30pm, 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £5.00 (all prices + bf). Durham Brass Festival. Various bands.
Sun 19: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ The Bandstand, The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free.
Sun 19: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town hall. 2:00pm. £7.00 (inc. bf). A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 19: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 19: Michael Young Trio @ Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 19: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 19: SwanNek @ The Bandstand, The Sele, Hexham. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Twelve 06, High St., Newbiggin-by-the-Sea NE64 6DR. 3:00pm. Free. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sun 19: Dale Storr: The Sounds of New Orleans @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Solo piano. POSTPONED!
Mon 20: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Joe Deans.
Wed 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
5 comments :
Bill played for the River City Band for about 12 months sometime in the 1970's. I remember he replaced Danny Dunbar. Bill then emigrated to either South Africa or Australia, - I forget which. He was disappointed to leave the band but his daytime job came first. He, in turn, was replaced by Stan Martin, and during the change-over we were treated to superb clarinet duets with both musicians. Bill led the Blue Star Jazzmen at the Corner House Hotel in Jesmond in the 1960's, - recently departed Kevin Savin was on banjo. It was a really good band.
Gordon Solomon.
I was on trombone with Bill Croft Blue Star Jazzmen 1961-62 the last band.Lineup,Bill Reid Bass. Jeff Robinson? drums. Kevin Savin banjo.John Walters tpt. Bill Croft clt. Me tbn. John and Kevin R.I.P. Bill went to Tasmainia as a civil engineer. John to BBC London.
Bill Croft
I was stopping over for a few days with my old mate Lou (Townson) and his wife Ann, in South Wales and we were talking about old times. Bill Croft’s name cropped up (Lou & I had both played in the Blue Star Jazz Band in the late 50s early 60s) and we decided to Google him to see if we could find out where he was or what happened to him – and up popped this fantastic site, where only a month ago Tony from Hull was on the same quest!
Sorry Tony, we’re still looking for him so I can't help, but maybe I can add a bit to the background.
Bill and I met within days of arriving at Kings College in Oct 1958 at the jazz club above the Gardener's Arms in Nelson Street and it didn't take long to decide to try to put a band together. Bill was a brilliant clarinettist - he'd been to Moscow with the Crescent City band from Hull whilst he was still at school .
He once told me that he and his mates in Hull called themselves the “GSAMCQ”. I’ve forgotten what the “G “stood for but the rest was “G………. Swinging, Anti-Manky, Crumping Quartet” - and why that long forgotten snippet of memory came into my head after 50 years I haven’t the faintest idea! I do recall though that one of those mates came up to Newcastle for a weekend at one point - maybe that was you?
Bill married Cynthia around 1963 and they went to Tasmania. I heard that the marriage didn’t last. I can confirm Gordon’s story that Bill returned to Newcastle briefly in the 70s. Sadly I wasn’t aware of that at the time, but I ran into Joe Young in the Town about 10 years ago and he told me the same thing.
The Blue Star Jazz Band line-up began in late 1958 or early 1959 as:-
Bill Croft – Clt
John Walters – Tpt
Keith Foggin – Tmb
John Crone – Pno
Clive Grey – Bjo
Me (Jef Robinson) – Dms
Then in the summer of '59 Clive left to do his National Service and John Crone left to join the College Kings band. In October '59 Lou and Dave arrived in Newcastle and the band became:-
Bill Croft – Clt
John Walters – Tpt
Keith Foggin – Tmb
Dave Rowberry – Pno
Lou Townson – Bass
Me (Jef Robinson) – Dms
In 1962, after the band broke up John, Jef and Lou joined the Joe Young band and Lou did a short spell with the EmCee 5 including an Italian tour. Dave went to London and was Musical Director for PJ Proby before taking Alan Price's chair in the Animals while John & Jef signed up with The Alan Price Set in 1965. Of Bill, sadly, I have no news.
Maybe Lance would like me to put a more detailed history of the band and its members on the blog – I have photos, press cuttings, and an LP (also mp3) of the Joe Young band recorded at MortonSound about 1964
If anyone would like to get in touch my e-mail address is - jyrob( )hotmail.com - [just change the brackets ( ) to @]
Jef Robinson
Call Logan City Council, Queensland, Australia - +61 7 3412 3412.
Bill is a 'retired' civil engineer / transport planner. Like many engineers, he liked it so much he returned to work part-time (in the transport section). Best day to try is possibly a Wednesday.
From the conversations that I had with him when working there I gathered that his marriage is still happy. :-)
I went to school with Bill Croft’s wife Cynthia nee Toward. I last saw Cynthia sometime in the 70s they were over from Oz at that time not sure if just for a visit . At the time Cynthia professed not to knowing me even though we had gone to school together for over 10 years. Last week I was out with a school friend and Cynthias name came up in the conversation. I knew Bill from downbeat/club Agogo days . After seeing this post I looked for them on Facebook and they are last showing being active in 2013 and still living in Oz at that time .
Post a Comment