Dave: Yes, it started off when we came back from working abroad. Terry Ellis and Bazz Ascroft were also at loose ends at the time, and I got them together at the Beamish Mary pub in No Place, County Durham. That ran as a very popular jam session for several years before a change of pub management meant we were looking for other venues. A short stint at the Bridge led to a really long residency at Jesmond’s Bluebell, then we moved on to the Egypt Cottage, the Tyne Bar, and eventually, The Chillingham Arms in Heaton. Only when the Chilli was refurbishing did we find our way to the Globe, where we’re very happy.
BSH: As the
recent interview with Matt Mackellar proved you have been a great one for
nurturing young talent. Not in an academic way but giving them the chance to
play in the real world of the jam session or, as you prefer, the jazz workshop.
Apart from Matt, would you like to name any others who found their feet at, so
to speak, your feet?
Dave:
Well, there’s another very talented young drummer Matt Fairhurst, and Mike
Papapavlou on guitar, and there was the late and much-lamented Darren Grainger
on sax. More recently we’ve had a couple
of young international players showing up, Salvatore di Novo on clarinet and
Fabio Vernuccio on bass. And that’s not
to mention our fantastic long term regulars, who may not count as “young
talent” as such, but hey! Of course we
also had lots of people passing through who were already well established jazz
players and who are very much local names, like Alan Law, Paul Gowland, Pete
Gilligan, the list is endless really.
BSH: Dave, do you remember the Take it to the Bridge session at the Tanners'
Arms when Claude Werner turned up and sat-in? It was like: Wow! Who's
this?! And again at the Egypt Cottage when David Carnegie walked
in. It must be a thrill when such great players, new to the scene, seek out
your workshop session.
Dave:
Yes, it’s always a privilege and it emphasises how the session is open to all
ability and experience levels.
BSH: For as
long as I can remember, Barrie Ascroft was on keyboards or bass guitar. His
passing must have been a tremendous blow to you both.
Dave:
We miss him so much. He wrote a tune
with a title that summed him up perfectly, Mr
Rascal! We go back a very long way, to the late 1970s, when I went to see a
very highly rated band called Technique at a club in Gateshead. Little did I know I’d be flat sharing with
the keyboard player a few years later and that we’d work together on a cruise.
Jude:
Dave and Barrie were like the odd couple!
Bazz
was such a huge loss. Yes, he could be
irascible, but that was all part of the hugely talented package – he was
equally brilliant on keyboards and bass, and of course his writing was
superb. I personally have so much to
thank him for. He taught me lots about
reading chord charts, and tolerated my first faltering steps at walking bass
with the comment “It wasn’t TOO painful”, he even used to record regular
editions of Coronation Street for me any time we were away and he was home!
BSH: Jude, correct me if I’m wrong, but you seemed to be a relatively late comer to the workshops. I remember you turning up at The Chilli one night and blowing everyone off the stand with your flute playing. Where had you been hiding? Next thing we knew you were blowing alto, playing bass and singing better than most of the so-called jazz singers!
Jude:
When we came back from working the hotels, it was to have our daughter. For a long time, apart from the occasional
paid restaurant gig, I was primarily Jess’s mam, while simultaneously studying
for an MA and PhD in History and starting out on a career in academia and adult
ed. So the only jams I got to were maybe
one a year, when I could sort out babysitting!
But I did get to the Sage’s first jazz workshops, where I met Stu and
Fiona Finden, and now we’re all in Budtet together.
BSH: You’ve also been playing in a
few different bands. Soznak is one that springs to mind tell us about them.
Jude: I feel so privileged to be part of the
Newcastle institution that is Soznak.
Paul Miskin, the band leader, has done so much through the decades to
keep street arts vibrant, and nothing really compares with playing a tune and
watching everyone around the Monument starting to move along with the
beat. This works with disco classics,
reggae, jazz standards, out and out rockers, we just all love playing together
and I think it’s infectious. Somehow it
helps you forget the sometimes sub-zero temperatures. Favourite moments: when
we had a huge protest group in Anonymous masks boogying on down to One Step Beyond; and when I shared a mic
with Lulu (yes, THE Lulu) on Steve Miller’s The
Joker.
BSH: Dave,
over the years you’ve switched from trumpet to cornet – any particular reason?
Plus you seem to have an amazing ear for a tune and I’ve never known you to
forget a lyric
Dave:
I found the cornet was easier to blow.
I’ve also played flugelhorn and love the tone of it, but the cornet is
my long term favourite. Ironic, because
it’s by far my cheapest instrument. I
picked it up for £32 from the Quayside Market. It didn’t even have a case. It was Terry Lambert, from the Barracudas,
who spotted it and negotiated a discount for me because he was a stallholder at
the time.
I
don’t know where my memory for lyrics comes from. Years of listening, I suppose.
(Continued tomorrow)
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