Newcastle Big Band (band)
| Newcastle Big Band | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Origin: | Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK |
| Years active: | 1968 - YYYY |
| Label(s): | Wudwink |
| Associated acts: | Tyneside Jazz Orchestra, Phoenix Jazzmen, Earthrise, Last Exit |
| Website: | none |
| Members | |
| Andy Hudson Nigel Stanger John Pearce Gerry Richardson John Hedley Don Eddie Steve Langdon Gordon Sumner Lance Liddle ... | |
Contents
Band history
Andy Hudson and Dave Brown founded the Newcastle Big Band in 1968, originally being an all-student band from Newcastle University.
Sting auditioned for the Newcastle Big Band at the Gosforth Hotel probably in early 1973 (a report in Courier (November 8, 1972) about the upcoming November 10 "All Night Rag" mentions Gerry Richardson on bass, so Sting was probably not a member yet). According to Lance Liddle Sting was already a member in the first three months of 1973 - Lance was still a member then, but left before the band's LP was made.
The band did regular lunchtime performances on Sundays - these took place at the Gosforth Hotel until February 1973. Due to the increasing audience they started playing in the foyer of the University Theatre on 1973-02-11 - from 1973-10-28 onwards these took place at the Guildhall.
The band played their final concert on 1975-04-20, yet reassembled for another performance on 1975-06-22, breaking up in June 1975.
They soon reformed however as the "Tyneside Jazz Orchestra" (with only 13 musicians and playing their own material), but probably played under their original name again at least once in 1976.
After the band's split and name change they returned to the University Theatre on 1975-09-28 (after a trial run at the Kelso Festival the week before).
Band members
- Andy Hudson - bandleader, electric piano
- John Hedley - guitar
- Kevin Healey - guitar
- Don Eddie - drums
- Jackie Denton - drums
- Gordon Sumner - bass and backing vocals
- Lance Liddle
- Graham Sheppard - baritone saxophone
- Pat Crumly - alto saxophone
- Cormac Loane - alto saxophone
- Nigel Stanger - tenor saxophone
- Charlie Carmichael - tenor saxophone
- Steve Langdon - tenor saxophone
- Alistair Atkinson - tenor saxophone
- Geoff Hedley - tenor & soprano saxophone
- John Pearce - trumpet
- Pete Volpe - trumpet
- David Lord - trumpet
- Colin Aitchison - trumpet
- Malcolm Hutton - trumpet
- Alf Parker - trumpet
- Aldo Bertorelli - trumpet
- Robert Tipady - trumpet
- Gordon Solomon - trombone
- Brian Chester - trombone
- Mike Walsh - trombone
- Ronnie Maclean - trombone
The February 23, 1973 Newcastle Journal mentions that the band had 34 musicians too choose from. The April 14, 1975 Newcastle Journal mentions 18 members.
Discography
Awards & Honors
Summarize major awards here in list format, as well as awards received not specific to a particular album, song, film or other release.
Quotations and Trivia
Among the songs the band performed were Woody Herman's Woody's Whistle, Duke Ellington's Take The "A" Train, Charles Mingus' Better Get Hit In Your Soul.
David Meeker's Jazz On The Screen filmography features this entry:
ABOUT BRITAIN series Ep: JAZZ ON TYNE UK 1974 – s – tv dir Andrea Wonfor With: The Newcastle Big Band playing in the Newcastle University Theatre; Lennie Felix, Ray Smith and Pat Hawes in a jazz piano concert in The Guildhall; Kathy Stobart and John Marshall leading a workshop; Ronnie Scott and Humphrey Lyttelton. Recorded during the Newcastle Jazz Festival.
See also
This section needs more information. It should include intra-wiki links to relevant articles that further detail the band's history, including potentially Filmography (BAND NAME), Bibliography (BAND NAME), Performances (BAND NAME). If separate articles on these subjects do not exist, you may wish to add appropriate header sections in this article instead.
External links
References
sources: Courier - November 8, 1972 (foundation); Broken Music; Lance Liddle; Newcastle Journal - February 7 and October 1, 1973 (venue changes); various newspapers (final concert / reassembling); Newcastle Journal - September 27, 1975 (split, new name)
