May
Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Jordan Jackson @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.80 (inc. bf); £15.40 (inc. bf).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Jazz Classics with Rivkala @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Rivkala (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 21: 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 22: Paul Skerritt @ Market Place, Durham. From 12 noon. Free. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £TBC. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.
Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall. 2:00pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 23: Paul Edis @ Core Music, Gilesgate, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00. A Core Music fundraiser, Hexham Jazz Weekender Day/Weekend ticket not applicable. Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sat 23: Blyth Big Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 6:30pm. £9.00., £5.00.
Sat 23: Paul Edis & Friends @ Musicwonders, Church Chare, Chester-le-Street. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £15.00. www.musicwonders.org. BYOB. SOLD OUT!
Sat 23: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Queen’s Hall Hexham. 7:00pm. £13.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sat 23: TC & the Groove Family + Lagos to Longbenton @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sat 23: Davina & the Vagabonds @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £22.00. + £1.50 bf.
Sat 23: Celebrating Wes Montgomery @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 8:15pm. £14.00., £12.00. Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sat 23: Chris Coull’s Porgy & Bess @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 9:30pm. £16.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 24: SwanNek @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £11.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sun 24: Salty Dog @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free. Donations.
Sun 24: Ben Crosland’s Threeway @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. £13.50 (inc. bf). Line-up inc. Steve Waterman. Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sun 24: Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Street Brass Band Bonanza: The Fanfare + Storytellers + Tenth Avenue Band @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £10.00., £8.00.
Sun 24: Charlie Parr @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50. Blues. Jumpin’ Hot Club.
Sun 24: Olly Styles Experience @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.
Sun 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 8:15pm. £13.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender. Feat. Jamil Sheriff.
Sun 24: Modern Vikings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 9:30pm. £16.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Mon 25: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Tue 26: Noel Dennis Sextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00. A Miles Davis centenary concert (Davis b. 26. 5. 1926). Noel Dennis (trumpet); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums). SOLD OUT!
Tue 26: Lagos to Longbenton @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
In the early 70s, I managed to get some funds to try and “upskill”
the Newcastle Big Band – some would say a vain hope. However we managed to
secure a workshop weekend with Ken Gibson, Henry Lowther and Don Rendell which
definitely worked. It also spawned a relationship with the three players who
then occasionally guested with us.
3 comments :
Is this the same Ken Gibson that originated in North Staffordshire (Stoke or Newcastle-under-Lyme)?
I have to say that it is only today, 1st March 2019, that I found out that Ken had died in 2015. I probably knew him better than anyone else did in the late 1950's and 60's. We started Imperial College together hoping to become highly qualified mathematicians. In fact we both very quickly got involved in the college jazz scene. Ken already played trumpet and I took up the double bass. We played together in various jazz groups. The first was the Imperial College Big Band and then we started some small groups. The Jazz Consortium was the first and then we formed The Jazz Congress with Richard Rushton on saxes, Ken on trumpet, Dave Perrottet on valve trombone, me (Dave Cain) on bass, Clive Heath on piano and Al Higson on drums. Ken was already writing a lot and we played many of his compositions. Later the group reformed as a quintet with Ken on trumpet, George Khan on tenor, Clive Heath, me and a young Brian Spring on drums. Ken was also running his big band which rehearsed in the Balls Pond Road as an evening class so we had somewhere to practice! I was now working for the BBC as a studio manager and then in the Radiophonic Workshop. This gave me the chance to organise recording studios and we recorded both of the small groups and the big band. I still have the reel-to-reel recordings and have transferred them onto CD. We drifted apart at the end of the 60's. Ken was writing and working with the National Youth Big Band and I was deep into Radiophonics and writing music for radio drama. Then, in the early 70's, I went to write music for schools in Cumbria and we completely lost touch. I have many fond memories of our time together! We spent our last year in university living in a disused betting shop in Fulham Cross and crammed enough maths into our heads to get a degree. Ken had a motor bike and we went around a lot together, especially to the Six Bells in the King's Road to listen to the big names of the day, for example Humphrey Lyttelton and Wally Fawkes, and drink Watney's mild at a shilling a pint! Our best trip was in 1965 when we got into Ken's Austin A40 and drove all the way to Antibes where we had the amazing experience of seeing and hearing Coltrane play 'A Love Supreme'! Finally, back to the question at the start. Ken lived in Stoke-on-Trent and I lived in Newcastle-under-Lyme, maybe five or six miles apart, but didn't know each other until we met in university. We played together a bit in a local trad band in a jazz club in Burslem. I have lots and lots of pictures of our time together, he was a really good looking guy, a Potteries Elvis Presley, and the girls really fell for him, including of course the lovely Jenny! RIP Ken, I still have my memories of you and the music we played together..
He was indeed an excellent coach. I remember discussing my various shortcomings on the trombone with him. He then took me off into a corner and proceeded to give me what I can only describe as a masterclass on trombone playing. We passed the horn to and fro between us, with him demonstrating various techniques then me trying to emulate him. He was very patient, a superb teacher. I learnt a lot.
Gordon Solomon
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