Today we said goodbye to a staunch supporter of the Tyneside jazz scene. A fair few folk filed into St Peter's Church, Monkseaton. They came from across Tyneside and further afield (Edinburgh) to pay their respects to Norman Redhead.
Prayer, eulogy, address, commendation and farewell, the jazz element came in the form of Norman being played in by Miles Davis' Flamenco Sketches, a reading of Howard Dietz's lyrics to Alone Together, before being played out to Nat Adderley's One for Daddy-O.
Honorary Geordie Norman Redhead was a quiet man, seen, but rarely heard, at venues across the region. From Side Cafe to Pink Lane's Jazz Cafe, the award-winning Globe, the Black Swan and countless other venues, if there was a jazz gig happening, invariably Norman was there.
Take it to the Bridge was a particular interest of Norman's. There to listen to the jazz, noting the new 'names' on the scene and spreading the word, in later years 'doing the door'. Permit me a personal memory. At a jazz gig one evening, Norman, modest as always, just happened to mention that as a schoolboy he was in a band, as a drummer, with none other than Graham Bond.
Thanks Norman, for your unfailingly good company. Russell
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