JULY 2025
Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Willington Town Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Market Place, Spennymoor, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Trimdon Community College, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Blackhill & Consett Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: NONUNONU @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £11:55 (inc bf).
Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ North Terrace, Seaham, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Knats: Masterclass & jam session @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Rat Pack - Live in Concert @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. A Hoodoo Blues dance class & social. Social & Front Porch Three only from 8:30pm. £5.00.
Sat 19: Streets of Brass @ Durham City. From 10:00am. Free. Various street bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 12 noon. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Bollywood Brass Band @ Monument Metro Station & Haymarket Metro Station, Newcastle. 2:00pm & 3:00pm & 4:00pm (3 x 30 mins). Free. A Gem Arts Masala Festival event.
Sat 19: Diddy Sweg: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 2:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Brazen Brass Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 12 noon. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Party in the Park @ Wharton Park, Durham. 5:00-9:00pm. Free. Ten street brass bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 19: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Chopwell Community Centre. 8:00pm.
Sun 20: Streets of Brass @ Durham City. From 11:00am. Free. Various street bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: Always Drinking Marching Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 11:00am. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: New York Brass Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 1:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: Das Brass: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 3:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Pope/Garner/Byrne/Alderson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.
Mon 21: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 21: New Century Syncopated Seven @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Tue 22: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.
Olive Rudd (vocals); Bob Wade (trumpet/flugel); Jim McBriarty (tenor); Don Fairley (trombone); Colin Haikney (piano); Alan Rudd (bass); Tommy Graham (drums) + Gordon Solomon (trombone); Cormac Loane (alto saxophone).
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!
Post a Comment