Tierra Buena Jazz Band
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The Tierra Buena Jazz Band, formed in 1958, has been going for some 60 years and in 2008 they made a CD. they formed in 1958.
The line up included Trumpet (Trombone / cornet) / Double Bass / Electric guitar / and Drums and vocals. Three founder members are still involved with the band today.
Here's a link to their CD Linger Awhile
From their former website -
"Their music covers a wide spectrum of traditional jazz styles, as the list of tune titles shows, and everything they play is done with great enthusiasm and good taste. An all-round excellent band, which really should be much more widely known. They had a cassette recorded about ten or so years ago but amazingly this is their first CD!
From The Coventry Telegraph - by DAVID McGRORY 2006 -
A good grounding in jazz for Tierra Buena
GET INTO THE SWING ON A MUSICAL TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH SOME TOP LOCAL BANDSMEN.
"They wore pork pie hats and shades and they were playing the most wonderful music. We were all really knocked out and all agreed that we had to have some of this.
"Afterwards we found out that they were a band from the Coventry Jazz Club, so we started going there to listen and learn. Although we were not old enough to be in a pub, they let us stay, although we weren't allowed to drink." The boys were determined to form their own band and started as a basic mouth organ band, then an accordion band. Brian recalls: "Jazz was the music for us, so we bought some cheap instruments and taught ourselves to play them. We formed a band called The Sherbourne Jazz Band and our first public appearances were doing the interval at the local jazz club.
"The break-through came when we started a regular Monday-night slot in Rugby at the Co-op Club.
"The line-up then was me on trumpet, Brian Wathen on trombone, Dave Wagstaffe on banjo and guitar, John Read on clarinet, John Astle on drums, Len Young on sousaphone and Bernard Overton on piano.
"I suppose the most notable thing that happened to us there was when they booked the
Mike Mulligan Band with George Melly and we were the support." The band became The Tierra Buena Jazz Band in 1958 and began their 11- year stint at the Pilot Hotel in Coventry.
Brian says: "We had reasonable audiences when we started, but after we represented Coventry on television on the BBC's Top of the Town it really took off. We had met some dancers on the show and invited them to come to our Monday sessions. "In those days we charged two shillings at the door and we had a line of people down the stairs and across the car park waiting for us to open up.
"The Pilot was a really good dancing club. During our time there a friend of the band, local jazz writer Roy Whitehead, had Wild Bill Davidson staying with him and Bill played with the band, which was a great thrill for us."
Mac Randle replaced John Read when he left the band, but the swinging 60s and rock bands saw audiences dwindling. Brian says: "We were moved downstairs to a smaller room with no piano, so we lost our pianist, Bernard Overton.
"When Mac Randle left us Watty Wathen switched from trombone to clarinet and Graham Slann joined us on trombone. Then John Astle left and John Ashby came in on washboard." The band began playing jazz at The Cottage in Earlsdon in 1969 and John Ashby went from playing washboard to drums. The band played at The Cottage until 1976 and during that time Graham left and Paul Munnery joined on trombone.
They've played in and around Coventry over the years including Virgins & Castle in Kenilworth, the Black Horse at Marton and Princethorpe Social Club, but have played Monday nights at the Cocked Hat in Binley since 1993.
The line-up has changed quite a few times over the years and bass player Sam and drummer John Ashby have both died.
John collapsed and died at the Cocked Hat on August 16, 1999, when they were playing the last tune of the night. Despite this the band went on and Al Sharpe is now the resident drummer.
Brian says: "The Tierra Buena Jazz Band has been 'blowing' around Coventry for 45 years plus. It may not be unique, but it's quite a record. "The sad thing for us now is that we feel like the last of the dinosaurs and wish that a few youngsters would come along, like we did, so we could encourage them to play, as we were encouraged. I'm glad to tell our story before we all disappear into the mists of time."
Buena's eras
*THE band play every Monday night at the Cocked Hat, Binley.
*They recorded a cassette "many years ago" with Lake Records, entitled Our Monday Date because they always play on Monday night.
*THE band recently played four dates in Gibraltar.
........................
From The Coventry Telegraph 2008 by Pete Chambers
50 years and all that jazz
The Tierra Buena Jazz Band is 50 years old this year.
The Tierra Buena Jazz Band, formed in 1958, has been going for some 60 years and in 2008 they made a CD. they formed in 1958.
The line up included Trumpet (Trombone / cornet) / Double Bass / Electric guitar / and Drums and vocals. Three founder members are still involved with the band today.
Here's a link to their CD Linger Awhile
"Their music covers a wide spectrum of traditional jazz styles, as the list of tune titles shows, and everything they play is done with great enthusiasm and good taste. An all-round excellent band, which really should be much more widely known. They had a cassette recorded about ten or so years ago but amazingly this is their first CD!
The tune titles are:- Bouncing Around, Some Of These Days, Faraway Blues, I Saw Stars, Frog-I-More Rag, Big Fat Ma And Skinny Pa, Paramount Scuffle, Linger Awhile, I’m Minding My Own Business, When I Come To The End Of My Journey, Oriental Man, For All We Know, Just Wait ‘til You See My Baby Do The Charleston, Saratoga Swing, I Lost My Girl From Memphis, Swing That Music.
The line-up is Brian Bates cornet; Dave ‘Spud’ Taylor clarinet & tenor sax; Brian ‘Watty’ Wathen trombone; Dave Wagstaff banjo; Barry Potts bass; Al Sharpe drums."
A good grounding in jazz for Tierra Buena
GET INTO THE SWING ON A MUSICAL TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE WITH SOME TOP LOCAL BANDSMEN.
THE Tierra Buena Jazz Band have been entertaining the good people of Coventry for more than 47 years - not a bad record by any standard. Brian recalls the band's beginnings. "I guess it all started in the early 1950s when me and my school pals were watching the Coventry Carnival and a lorry went by with a band on the back. "They had a stripped-down piano, bass, drums, banjo, guitar and the usual front line of trumpet, clarinet and trombone.
"Afterwards we found out that they were a band from the Coventry Jazz Club, so we started going there to listen and learn. Although we were not old enough to be in a pub, they let us stay, although we weren't allowed to drink." The boys were determined to form their own band and started as a basic mouth organ band, then an accordion band. Brian recalls: "Jazz was the music for us, so we bought some cheap instruments and taught ourselves to play them. We formed a band called The Sherbourne Jazz Band and our first public appearances were doing the interval at the local jazz club.
"The break-through came when we started a regular Monday-night slot in Rugby at the Co-op Club.
"The line-up then was me on trumpet, Brian Wathen on trombone, Dave Wagstaffe on banjo and guitar, John Read on clarinet, John Astle on drums, Len Young on sousaphone and Bernard Overton on piano.
"I suppose the most notable thing that happened to us there was when they booked the
Brian says: "We had reasonable audiences when we started, but after we represented Coventry on television on the BBC's Top of the Town it really took off. We had met some dancers on the show and invited them to come to our Monday sessions. "In those days we charged two shillings at the door and we had a line of people down the stairs and across the car park waiting for us to open up.
"The Pilot was a really good dancing club. During our time there a friend of the band, local jazz writer Roy Whitehead, had Wild Bill Davidson staying with him and Bill played with the band, which was a great thrill for us."
Mac Randle replaced John Read when he left the band, but the swinging 60s and rock bands saw audiences dwindling. Brian says: "We were moved downstairs to a smaller room with no piano, so we lost our pianist, Bernard Overton.
"When Mac Randle left us Watty Wathen switched from trombone to clarinet and Graham Slann joined us on trombone. Then John Astle left and John Ashby came in on washboard." The band began playing jazz at The Cottage in Earlsdon in 1969 and John Ashby went from playing washboard to drums. The band played at The Cottage until 1976 and during that time Graham left and Paul Munnery joined on trombone.
They've played in and around Coventry over the years including Virgins & Castle in Kenilworth, the Black Horse at Marton and Princethorpe Social Club, but have played Monday nights at the Cocked Hat in Binley since 1993.
The line-up has changed quite a few times over the years and bass player Sam and drummer John Ashby have both died.
John collapsed and died at the Cocked Hat on August 16, 1999, when they were playing the last tune of the night. Despite this the band went on and Al Sharpe is now the resident drummer.
Brian says: "The Tierra Buena Jazz Band has been 'blowing' around Coventry for 45 years plus. It may not be unique, but it's quite a record. "The sad thing for us now is that we feel like the last of the dinosaurs and wish that a few youngsters would come along, like we did, so we could encourage them to play, as we were encouraged. I'm glad to tell our story before we all disappear into the mists of time."
Buena's eras
*THE band play every Monday night at the Cocked Hat, Binley.
*They recorded a cassette "many years ago" with Lake Records, entitled Our Monday Date because they always play on Monday night.
*THE band recently played four dates in Gibraltar.
........................
This six-piece band started playing Traditional/Dixieland/New Orleans Jazz in 1958 at The Pilot Hotel, Radford, just as the 'Trad Boom' started (band and audience were very young then!). Several years at The Pilot were followed by years at The Cottage, Earlsdon, then other residencies at pubs and clubs in Coventry and in Warwickshire, and more recently ten years at The Cocked Hat, Binley. Almost always it has been on Monday nights, and most remarkably half of the current band have been playing since the earliest days. The band has increased its expertise and its repertoire with the years, yet kept its enthusiasm and stayed true to its jazz idiom.
From The Coventry Telegraph 2008 by Pete Chambers
50 years and all that jazz
The Tierra Buena Jazz Band is 50 years old this year.
I have never been a lover of modern jazz, too much pretension, not enough music.
Trad Jazz however, has never failed to put a smile on my face, and a tap to my foot, especially when it’s done well, and after 50 years you can bet these guys have learned their craft.
I caught up with the band’s trumpeter Brian Bates at a recent gig, and learned the story of a band who has turned out superb music for so long.
IT all began back in the early 1950’s, when friends Brian Bates, Dave ‘Spud’ Taylor, Dave Wagstaff and Len Young happened to spy a Coventry Carnival parade.
Along came a lorry with a band playing on it,
“They had a stripped-down piano, string bass, drums, banjo, trumpet, clarinet and trombone” said Brian.
“They wore ‘pork-pie’ hats and ‘shades’ and they were playing the most wonderful music. We were so impressed and agreed that we would find out more.
“They turned out to be The Godiva Jazz band who played at The Queen’s Pub, so we started going there to listen and learn”.
The guys had toyed with mouth-organ bands and accordion bands, but they all knew that Trad jazz was what they wanted to play.
“We brought some cheap instruments” added Brian.
“We taught ourselves to play over the next year and formed the Sherbourne Jazz Band. We started our public appearances by playing in the interval at The Coventry Jazz Club, and we seemed to be getting better and more popular”.
From there came regular Monday nights at the Rugby Co-op club. Band members at this point included Brian Bates, Brian Wathen, John Read, Dave Wagstaff, Len Young, John Astle and Bernard Overton.
In 1958, the band moved base to Coventry and took the new name of The Tierra Buena Jazz Band.
From 1958 to 1969, the band held court at The Pilot Hotel. The crowds were good, but after representing Coventry on the BBC show Top Town, the numbers swelled and as the ‘Trad boom’ took off the band enjoyed packed nights at The Pilot, with as many as 300 people up and dancing.
By 1969 the ‘Trad Boom’ was well and truly over, and rock bands were bringing in the punters at The Pilot.
After a few line-up changes, the band took a residency at The Cottage in Earlsdon, soon to become Coventry’s number one jazz club.
The band played here to 1976, with standout guests appearances from the likes of jazz legend Ken Colyer and Sammy Rimington.
Virgins and Castle, Kenilworth and the Princethorpe Social Club, also became homes to the band, as did the Cocked Hat in 1993.
“We played on the opening of the pub” says Brian. Our most traumatic night there was on August 16th 1999, our good friend and drummer John Ashby collapsed and died at the drums, while we were playing our last tune.
We stayed at the Cocked Hat till March 2008, and we are now based at The Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club, Binley Road”.
It was at that very club I had the pleasure to see the band, as they worked their magic through a large and impressive set-list (but just a tiny part of their 600 song repertoire).
On stage that night with the band were Spud Taylor (Clarinet & Tenor Sax),Al Sharpe (drums), Roscoe Birchmore (bass) and the original members from right back in 1958, Brian Bates (trumpet), Watty Wathen (trombone) and Dave Wagstaff (banjo and guitar).
They boys have a CD available entitled Linger Awhile, that includes such favourites as, Paramount Scuffle, Saratoga Swing, Just Wait Till You See my baby and I Saw Stars.
“It’s been a pretty fantastic journey” reveals Brian, “we have sadly lost a few on the way, but we have just carried on.
I really can’t believe it’s been fifty years, we are just hoping we can go as long as we can, because we love it and we love the music.
The sad thing is we feel like dinosaurs now. We just wish a few youngsters would come along and get inspired to play as we did, maybe we should take a lorry on the carnival parade”?
So if you’re young or not so young get yourself down to The Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club, Binley Road any Monday night from 8.30pm, and put a smile on your face, with some great people, a great atmosphere and some superb music.
The band celebrates their 50th birthday on 22nd December at the venue, it promises to be an exciting night.
Trivia
* The name Tierra Buena, actually means ‘good earth’, but over the years their name has been mispronounced as Terry Beano and even Terrible Banana.
* The boys recently did a world tour of Gibraltar, playing four dates on the rock.
* During their Rugby days, they had the pleasure of supporting, The Mick Mulligan Band featuring the late great George Melly. However, they as the supporting band got the best reception!
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/lifestyle/nostalgia/50-years-jazz-3088862
................
Obituary to John Astle https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/jun/24/obituary-john-astle
Trad Jazz however, has never failed to put a smile on my face, and a tap to my foot, especially when it’s done well, and after 50 years you can bet these guys have learned their craft.
I caught up with the band’s trumpeter Brian Bates at a recent gig, and learned the story of a band who has turned out superb music for so long.
IT all began back in the early 1950’s, when friends Brian Bates, Dave ‘Spud’ Taylor, Dave Wagstaff and Len Young happened to spy a Coventry Carnival parade.
Along came a lorry with a band playing on it,
“They had a stripped-down piano, string bass, drums, banjo, trumpet, clarinet and trombone” said Brian.
“They wore ‘pork-pie’ hats and ‘shades’ and they were playing the most wonderful music. We were so impressed and agreed that we would find out more.
“They turned out to be The Godiva Jazz band who played at The Queen’s Pub, so we started going there to listen and learn”.
The guys had toyed with mouth-organ bands and accordion bands, but they all knew that Trad jazz was what they wanted to play.
“We brought some cheap instruments” added Brian.
“We taught ourselves to play over the next year and formed the Sherbourne Jazz Band. We started our public appearances by playing in the interval at The Coventry Jazz Club, and we seemed to be getting better and more popular”.
From there came regular Monday nights at the Rugby Co-op club. Band members at this point included Brian Bates, Brian Wathen, John Read, Dave Wagstaff, Len Young, John Astle and Bernard Overton.
In 1958, the band moved base to Coventry and took the new name of The Tierra Buena Jazz Band.
From 1958 to 1969, the band held court at The Pilot Hotel. The crowds were good, but after representing Coventry on the BBC show Top Town, the numbers swelled and as the ‘Trad boom’ took off the band enjoyed packed nights at The Pilot, with as many as 300 people up and dancing.
By 1969 the ‘Trad Boom’ was well and truly over, and rock bands were bringing in the punters at The Pilot.
After a few line-up changes, the band took a residency at The Cottage in Earlsdon, soon to become Coventry’s number one jazz club.
The band played here to 1976, with standout guests appearances from the likes of jazz legend Ken Colyer and Sammy Rimington.
Virgins and Castle, Kenilworth and the Princethorpe Social Club, also became homes to the band, as did the Cocked Hat in 1993.
“We played on the opening of the pub” says Brian. Our most traumatic night there was on August 16th 1999, our good friend and drummer John Ashby collapsed and died at the drums, while we were playing our last tune.
We stayed at the Cocked Hat till March 2008, and we are now based at The Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club, Binley Road”.
It was at that very club I had the pleasure to see the band, as they worked their magic through a large and impressive set-list (but just a tiny part of their 600 song repertoire).
On stage that night with the band were Spud Taylor (Clarinet & Tenor Sax),Al Sharpe (drums), Roscoe Birchmore (bass) and the original members from right back in 1958, Brian Bates (trumpet), Watty Wathen (trombone) and Dave Wagstaff (banjo and guitar).
They boys have a CD available entitled Linger Awhile, that includes such favourites as, Paramount Scuffle, Saratoga Swing, Just Wait Till You See my baby and I Saw Stars.
“It’s been a pretty fantastic journey” reveals Brian, “we have sadly lost a few on the way, but we have just carried on.
I really can’t believe it’s been fifty years, we are just hoping we can go as long as we can, because we love it and we love the music.
The sad thing is we feel like dinosaurs now. We just wish a few youngsters would come along and get inspired to play as we did, maybe we should take a lorry on the carnival parade”?
So if you’re young or not so young get yourself down to The Coventry and North Warwickshire Cricket Club, Binley Road any Monday night from 8.30pm, and put a smile on your face, with some great people, a great atmosphere and some superb music.
The band celebrates their 50th birthday on 22nd December at the venue, it promises to be an exciting night.
Trivia
* The name Tierra Buena, actually means ‘good earth’, but over the years their name has been mispronounced as Terry Beano and even Terrible Banana.
* The boys recently did a world tour of Gibraltar, playing four dates on the rock.
* During their Rugby days, they had the pleasure of supporting, The Mick Mulligan Band featuring the late great George Melly. However, they as the supporting band got the best reception!
https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/lifestyle/nostalgia/50-years-jazz-3088862
................
Obituary to John Astle https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2009/jun/24/obituary-john-astle
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