(Review by
Lance).
This was a trip down memory lane or, to be more precise,
Worswick St. and the old bus station - the Northern Bus Company sign is just faintly
recognisable.
The memories I have of that place - the fumes and the smell of the petrol.
Couple that with the Capstan Full Strength, the re-cycled Newcastle Brown Ale
and the five bob a gallon perfume (if I'd hit lucky) that was ever present - it
makes me wonder, in retrospect, how I survived.
But it was all worth it. I'd maybe have been to The Odeon and heard Duke or Basie, the City Hall where I heard just about everybody else or, just down the road, The Down Beat. Tubby Hayes, Joe Harriott, the Emcee Five or the emerging Animals. And, of course, Mortonsound Studio where many a local band first put their talents on disc.
So yes, the memories and tonight, should I live for another four score years, more memories will be added about an evening that was equally memorable - not least because it was a victory snatched from the jaws of defeat.
The gig was sold out within days of the announcement that New York trumpet player/bandleader/vocalist Danny Jonokuchi was to play a gig with SSBB at a coffee shop on Carliol Square. It didn't matter that he was relatively unknown, YouTube does the business in that respect, he was an American from NYC what more do you want?
What we didn't want was this Covid-19 virus that's causing so much kerfuffle - I don't recall the previous 18 editions bothering any one. However, the upshot is that, after medical advice, Danny Jonokuchi returned home and it looked as though tickets would be refunded, face masks would be obligatory and, even though it was Friday the Thirteenth, the show would go on - and go on it did...
Lance
More on the actual gig shortly.
Michael Lamb MD, Pete Tanton, Gordon
Marshall, Dick Stacey (trumpets); Mark Ferris, Kieran Parnaby, Chris
Kurgi-Smith, John Flood (trombones), Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge, Keith Robinson,
Steve Summers, Laurie Rangecroft (reeds); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Graham
Don (piano); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Dave McKeague (drums); Alice Grace/Pete Tanton (vocals).
1 comment :
Lance ,
Do you remember the bus conductors [where are they now] scampering off the bus grabbing some clearly home made, certainly did not look manufactured, metal handled , wooden block to shove behind the bus wheels in desperate attempt to stop the bus rolling back down the rather steep incline of the station's stands.I often wondered about the condition of the bus brakes if such a block was needed but still no choice had to use them . I look forward to your report regarding the gig.
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