The passing of Ray Shenton and his connection with the Great Whittington Jazz Picnic brought to mind another gig just down the road at Chesters Roman Fort and Museum, part of Hadrian's Wall.
This was an open air gig and featured the bands of Chris Barber, the River City Jazzmen and the Tees Valley Jazzmen.
I'm not sure why the organisers opted for the above bands, perhaps they felt that since Nero hung up his fiddle this was going to be as authentic as they could get!
That was back in June 19, 1994 and, according to my cycling diary (I'd pedalled there), my verdict was that the Tees Valley Jazzmen got the nod. Can anyone else recall that gig? Lance
2 comments :
I was there! I couldn't be bothered to cycle, the train to Bardon Mill was the easier option.
This traditional jazz festival ran for two years, 1994 and 1995, and being blessed with fine weather was very well attended. The River City played on both years, with guest trumpeter Mike Cotton being featured on the second year, and Mike Durham’s West Jesmond Rhythm Kings replaced the Tees Valley band. The organisers wanted it to become a regular yearly event, unfortunately in 1996 drummer Ray Brown organised the first Hexham jazz festival to be held on the same weekend, so rather than split the audience it was decided to drop the idea.
Post a Comment