This poster was spotted whilst trawling the mean streets of Cullercoats. It was displayed inside the Crescendo Club - a lunchtime jazz joint overlooking the sea. Outside, broads in bikinis were strutting their stuff prior to dipping their toes in the briny.
Inside, an assortment of jazz guys was blowing as if there were no tomorrow and, for some, maybe there wasn't. Most of the broads in here were broader and weren't wearing bikinis. Maybe they had, once, a long time ago. Still, the music was good, Capone would have liked it, the booze was cheap and came from one of the local bootleg breweries.
I asked around, I got plenty of answers and a few phone numbers but not the answers I was looking for - I kept the phone numbers for a rainy day.
Nobody knew who this Vermont Big Band was. I wondered if I'd have to take a flight to New England. I hoped not, the way business has been lately I couldn't buy a ticket to Old England.
Then I had this idea - Lance! The coolest cat on the planet or maybe it should read that he has the coolest cat on the planet? Yup, if L and that slinky feline Daphne couldn't come up with the answer then no one could.
An advert on Lance's Bebop Spoken Here blog would surely provide the answer to the question - Who are the Vermont Big Band?
Mike Hammer.
1 comment :
Hi "Mike Hammer" the ‘Vermont Big Band’ is actually my band and it’s been going 16 years... it’s part of North Tyneside Music Service, but I did a summer ‘adults only’ gig on Sat night at CCC... we’re doing another one on 13th October. We had an excellent gig, I conduct... I don’t play. For the record, the band was: Felicity Ripley, Ben Gibbon (altos); Peter Elliott, Alan Marshall (tenors); Russell Rogers (baritone). Mike Graham, Wendy Innes, Steve Crockett, Bob Harrison, Kate Brown (trumpets). Chris Kurji-Smith, Colin Winship (trombones); Michael Mather (drums); James Thompson (Bass); Andy Mather (Guitar); Phil Noble (keys) and on vocals, the one and only Beth Tippins.
We did 15 vocals and 4 instrumentals on Sat.
Next time it is a 40’s style night. We’ll do 8/9 vocals and the rest instrumentals.
So, the secret is out!
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