Help JNE celebrate their half century.

The Gateshead International Jazz Festival is some way off (15-17 April) but Jazz North East is preparing its stall already!   To help celebrate our 50^th year we’re putting on a display of photographs and programme materials which JNE have promoted since its inception in 1966.   Do you have any old JNE programmes or photos from the early years?    If you have then we’d love to see them. We’d scan your originals and then return them so we’re just after a ‘loan’ of anything related to JNE.   

The pages of Bebop Spoken Here contain some scanned images of tickets and posters in the Archive section, but we’re hoping there is more memorabilia to be found from other keen Jazz followers. 

If you can offer some material, please contact Jazz North East at info@jazznortheast.com.  We’re happy to collect material offered, especially if brought along to a gig e.g.  the All-Day ‘Paris-sur-Tyne’ event on Sunday 24^th January.

We’ve already managed to track down some details of JNE's first ever concert – it was Earl Hines with the Alex Welsh Band in March 1966 at the Connaught Hall in Blackett Street.  So we are (and certainly were back then) off to a flying start!

Ken Drew  

(Photo of Nat Adderley from JNE concert at the Corner House Sept. 14, 1982.)