

LondonJazzBlog Obituary.
Peter Vacher Jazzwise Obituary.
For the past seventeen 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
MARCH 2025.
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.
Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.
Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.
Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.
Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).
14 comments :
Mike Carr's Blue Note Band played a cracking gig at Newcastle's Corner House Hotel in 2003. If memory serves, the (then young) Fishwick twins were in the band. In their own way the Fishwicks have kept Carr's flame burning.
Sad news, Lance. I saw Mike Carr backing Coleman Hawkins at the Connaught Hall in Blackett Street in 1967 when I was 14 - a seminal night in my life as a jazz musician, as you can imagine. He and Tony Crombie played the first set as an organ and drums duo, then Mike switched to piano to back Hawk, with Dave Green added on string bass. Almost 50 years ago now, but I still remember it clearly. A great musician.
You and me both, Steve.
I too remember the concert well. Hawkins looked very frail but blew almost nonstop even for piano and bass solos. It was in the early days of JNE and in what seemed a very short space of time we saw Earl Hines, Hawkins, Ben Webster, Ed Hall, Bill Coleman, Rex Stewart, Johnny Griffin and all at the Connaught... we didn't know how privileged we were!
I saw him when I was about 16 at a club in Ashington with Ronnie Scott & a fantastic drummer called Bobby Gean.... It was a storming gig !... An absolute legend ! RIP
Oh no! was just talking about him yesterday
Mike was the swingingest piano player I ever had the honour and pleasure to play with when arrived aged 15/16 from Redcar and adn joined the King's College Modern Jazz group with his brother Ian. I was greatly saddened by the news of his passing. He will certainly not be forgotten.
I got to know Mike in the 70's,and went to his gigs around Newcastle, Gosforth,etc, Alnwick jazz club with Ronnie Scott, I always ended up helping to carry the Hammond in and out of the venue but did not mind, He was without doubt my no 1 organist,and a nice guy So sad to hear this news.
I remember sitting having a drink in the Gosforth hotel with Mike, Bobby, and Gary Cox who was standing in at short notice for Ronnie Scott,and they were trying to sort out a set list for the gig at Gosforth Civic hall they kept changing their minds, about what to play, but boy when they went on it was stunning!!, what a show!!.
Very saddened to read of the death of Mike. Back in the 1950s I used to take a snare drum to his (parents) house on Gosforth high street for a"knock", It was there one evening that Ian arrived having just bought a trumpet ! RIP Mike one of the greats !
Very sad news. Yes Lance, I too (as a teenager!) was at that amazing gig at the County Hotel in 1973 or 74 - the Ronnie Scott Trio augmented by Gary Cox. I remember having a drink in the downstairs bar before the gig with North-East bass player Dave Murphy (can't remember whether he was playing in Ronnie's band or in the support group) and the amazing drummer, Bobby Gein. I remember Ronnie Scott introducing Bobby to the audience as "coming from South Africa, which is a very good place to come from!" I was also lucky to be at the gig in the Ashington jazz club, mentioned by Mal, above. I was driven there by my old friend and mentor, the late Nigel Stanger, following a Sunday lunchtime session with the Newcastle Big Band. And I recall another gig by the same trio, round the same time, at the University Theatre. They were obviously a very busy touring band in the 70s and Mike Carr's amazing playing made it all swing incredibly!
The gig was in the 60s/70s? Ashington Jazz Club stalwarts recall it was at the Cellar Club (Still in existence as Bubbles) The line up was Mike Carr, Ronnie Scott and we all think Martin Drew on drums
There were few, if any, Hammond players who could swing like Mike and offer a completely natural musical experience without any attempts to be flash or clever. He felt the music as it was and played it from the heart. Both Oscar Peterson and Milt Jackson said that they thought he was "one of the best". Mikes ability on pedals was unsurpassed even by the likes of Jimmy Smith. In addition to the Hammond, Mike was one of the premier Vibes Players in jazz. Again a natural player who played with sensibility and feeling. He deserved much more recognition for his playing but his modesty meant he never really pushed it. He wrote an enormous number of compositions which he often ran by me singing the lyrics himself. He had a really good voice but never sang in public usually hiring vocalists to sing in his place. I feel, to this day, like so many of his great contemporaries, he deserved better recognition.
Mike never lost his love for 'Tyneside' and his connections to so many of his early sidemen there, before coming south to further his career.
Mike was generous to a tee, often much more than he should have been. Despite the difficulties of bringing up two youngsters on his own, they always came first before work, his bubbly happy personality came out. Mike often, quietly, played gigs without taking money when he felt the fee was too low for the other guys in the band.
A really great, unsung musician, father and all round 'human being'.
Sadtofind this out over 3 years later. I bought Mike's Fender Rhodes off him about 15 years ago and he was a sweet guy and a great player. He gave me a copy of his EmCee 5 LP which is on the turntable right now.
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