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Bebop Spoken There
Marc Myers: " If the original group with Baker was Dover sole, the group with Brookmeyer was beef stew." - (JazzWax, December 7, 2019).

Today Monday December 9
Afternoon
Jazz
Jazz in the Afternoon - Cullercoats Crescent Club, 1 Hudleston, Cullercoats NE30 4QS. Tel: 0191 253 0242. 1:00pm. Free admission.
Evening
St Cuth’s Big Band - St Cuthbert’s Society, 12 South Bailey, Durham DH1 3EE. 8:00pm. Free (donations). St Cuth’s Big Band ‘Christmas Concert’. Concert in dining hall, licensed bar
To the best of our knowledge, details of the above events are correct but may be subject to alteration.

Tuesday, October 02, 2018
Classic Swing + Guests @ The Ship, Monkseaton - Oct. 2

4 comments :
Well John, I'm sorry I missed that session. In answer to your query as to how many of the Newcastle Big Band members are still around - well there are a few including several you didn't mention, obviously having taken the info from the LP the band made over 40 years ago!.
Those who are still around, and not mentioned, include Ian Heslop (bass), Ian Forbes (drums), Germaine Stanger (vocals), George MacDonald (alto/clarinet), Laurie Rangecroft (tenor and now baritone w. SSBB), Terry Ellis and John Hedley (guitars) and me (tenor). Other ones who are no longer with us and who missed the cut include Bill Shaw/Marshall Walker (drums), Trevor Johnson (saxes), Bobby Carr, Mike Gilby (trumpets).
Of the others: John Pearce, Alf Parker, Jackie Denton, Don Eddy, Nigel Stanger, Charlie Carmichael, Graham Sheppard, Pat Crumley, Ken Gibson (aka Geno Binks!) are also gone - there's probably more.
Does anyone have info on the whereabouts of Bob King or Jeff Hedley?
Sadly, Bob King died a couple of years ago. He and wife, Dorothy, had been living out there for a few years - quietly growing tomatoes in the sunshine. Before this, Bob was front row in local band, the West Jesmond Rhythm Kings - playing fine, tail gating trombone, alongside Mike, trumpet, and Derek Fleck, clarinet and saxes - now they're all playing in that perpetual celestial jam session. Bob was previously Head of Arts at Kings School in Tynemouth - he trained as a potter, and worked with Bernard Leach in Cornwall. I'm not sure where this fitted with his tenure in the Newcastle Big Band - as far as I know, Bob had left it before Brian Chester joined. Incidentally, Brian was also a long time member of the WJRK's - on piano, and trombone when Bob left.
Sorry, I should have said out there - in Spain! That's where Bob and Dorothy retired to ........
Bob was a very early member of NBB. Others from that period of whom I'd be interested to hear from/about are Andy Gibb (trumpet); Andy Hollis (trumpet/flute); a trombone player Humphery?
I think they were medical students as so many student musicians seem to be both then and now.
Andy Hollis, I think, went to Russia...
Lynn Weems, who lived in Muggleswick near The Truscotts, had played alto with Ivy Benson. There were a lot of players passed through that band. It wasn't unusual to have two drummers flailing away at opposite ends of the stage. As this was usually Don Eddy and Jackie Denton, or occasionally Billy Young and Ian Forbes the drive was quite amazing!
At the San Sebastian Jazz Festival where the band was a frequent visitor, I think Jackie Denton became adopted by the local Basque community - at the time, both were good at dropping bombs!
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