December
Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm. £7.50.
Sun 03: The Central Bar Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. The Central Bar Quartet plays Lou Donaldson’s Gravy Train. Featuring Jamie Toms.
Sun 03: Paul Skerritt @ Smith’s Arms, Carlton, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:00pm.
Sun 03: Johnny Hunter Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 03: Jam session @ The Schooner, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 04: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ People’s Kitchen, Bath Lane, Newcastle. From 5:30pm. On-street gig supporting the work of the People’s Kitchen charity. Wrap up warm! Donate!
Mon 04: Michael Young Trio w Lindsay Hannon @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: James Birkett Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £8.00.
Mon 04: Durham University Jazz Orchestra + Durham University Big Band @ Durham Castle DH1 3RW. 8:30pm. £6.00.; £5.00. concs; £4.00. DSM. ‘Jazzy Christmas’.
Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church, Cleadon. 7:00pm. Concert in the church hall. BYOB.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Sid White. The best free show in town!
Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Free. Note later start time, concert performance (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay, Newcastle. 12 noon - 4:00pm. £26.00 (inc 3-course meal in in St Mary's Lighthouse Suite). SOLD OUT!
Thu 07: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm. All welcome.
Thu 07: Thursday Night Prayer Meeting @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.Donations. Feat. Mark Sanders. CANCELLED!
Thu 07: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00. Downstairs.
Thu 07: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.
Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 08: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Woodland Village Hall, Bishop Auckland. 7:00pm. £12.00.
Fri 08: Sleep Suppressor + Redwell @ Head of Steam, Neville St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv); £5.00. student.
Fri 08: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert's Church, Shadforth, Co. Durham.
Fri 08: Têtes de Pois + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £8.00.
Sat 09: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 09: Abbie Finn Trio @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm.
Sat 09: Hayley's Little Big Band @ Middleton & Todridge Village Hall, Morpeth. 7:30pm. £12.00., £6.00.
Sat 09: Paul Skerritt @ Slaley Hall, Hexham NE47 0BX. 7:30pm. From £42.00.
Colin Aitchison has sent me the sad news that sax player and clarinettist Grahame Shepherd has died in Spain.
8 comments :
Shocked and saddened to hear this. Grahame and I were around the same age and played together many times in the early '70's, notably at the sessions at the Gosforth Hotel. He was a great saxophone player and a good jazzman (which doesn't necessarily follow), particularly on tenor, so he and I had a bit of friendly competition going there. Sad news.
I was very sad to hear of Graham Sheppard's untimely death. I sat alongside Graham in the Newcastle Big Band sax section from about 1972 to 1974 and we took part together in the Big Band's visit to the Pau Jazz Festival in France round that time. Graham was a good friend and a great saxophone player, but I particularly remember the fluency of his clarinet playing which owed a lot to his mentor Sid Phillips, with whom he studied in London before moving to the North-East. I recollect sitting in with a mainstream jazz group which Graham co-led with saxophonist Nigel Stanger at the Gosforth Hotel on Wednesday evenings - perhaps this is the group that Steve Andrews recalls. (If I remember correctly, the band was called Splinters, because it was a splinter group from the Big Band). I was very much indebted to Graham for furthering my career as a young musician because, as a teenager, he frequently invited me to deputise for him in the Bavarian Bierkeller Band at the Hofbrauhaus on Waterloo Street, thus giving me the opportunity to play next to the great trumpet player, Bobby Carr. Graham was a great guy and a great musician who will be sadly missed.
Thanks for letting me know about Graham, very sad. Graham played with the Phoenix Jazzmen for a couple of years before leaving to join the house Oompah Band at the Hofbrauhause Club in Waterloo Street. He was an excellent musician and played clarinet and tenor sax with the band, - I think he also played baritone in the Newcastle Big Band. The Phoenix line-up at that time was Don Eddy on drums, Gordon "Sting" Sumner bass, John Hedley guitar, Graham on reeds, Ronnie Young trumpet and vocals and myself on trombone. I remember this band produced a really big sound and looking at the rhythm section I'm not surprised! I'm sure Graham will be sadly missed.
Gordon Solomon.
We played with Grahame every week for the last five years here in Spain, such a fantastic and soulful musician who played with an ocean of feeling on his tenor and flute. We will always cherish his memory. RIP dear Grahame.
Rudy
JAZZIFY band
I worked with Grahame in the Newcastle Big Band and The Phoenix Jazzmen in the mid seventies. He was a consummate musician and a gentleman. I bought a Baritone sax from him, which led to me being evicted from my flat after a complaint from the noise abatement society, or they may have been music lovers. Rest in Peace Grahame, I'm proud to have known you. Love,
Sting.
College mate, band mate, loved his playing, modest to a fault and a decent man. I'm listening to The Phoenix Jazzmen's biggest hit record: Beale Street Blues. Graham, what a gem. Great to have known you mate.
John Hedley
A native of Edinburgh, now in Wisconsin, I attended College in Newcastle with Grahame back in the early/mid 70's. He was a good guy, and a much better musician than I could ever be. I am so sad to hear of his death. Unfortunately, a few guys I knew at
the College in Newcastle have already departed. It is all very depressing. Do you happen to have an email address for Colin Aitchison? He was in Hong Kong last I heard. He was also at college with Grahame and I all those years ago. God, I feel old.
Colin, I'll email you Colin Aitchison's address.
Post a Comment