Papa Joe Errington

Joe was born in Greenside, Newcastle, United Kingdom on Febuary 23rd 1934.  Joe's dad was a pitman and union rep. working in both Hamsterly and Greenside coal mining pits. His mother Annie was a bus conductress working on the local bus service running from Greenside, Highspen, Chopwell and into Newcastle. Joe had one younger brother named Tom.  Joe attended Hookergate Grammer School from the age of 11. Joe later attended Carnegie College of Physical Education in Leeds.

 

Joe started playing the trumpet at the age of 21 whilst at college at Carnegie  - One of his fellow students, Bill Wright, who lived just down the hall had a £3 trumpet and Joe bet him he could play it better than he could within a week.  The bet was taken -- Joe won the bet & the trumpet! Bill then bought a banjo. The trumpet Joe won was old and battered so he bought a new one for £23.

 

Joe's first taste of Jazz came in the recorded form of Jelly Roll Morton's - Dr. Jazz. It was hard to get hold of records from the USA back then, but Joe was able to buy records by Humprey Littleton - so that is what he did. In 1954, Joe was in the RAF at Eastbourne at Beachie Head where he worked as a radar operator. This was where he first listened to his biggest Jazz influence, Louis Armstrong, playing the song Muskat Ramble with his Hot Five.   Joe considered Armstrong's playing with his All Stars Band his best work - and this was the jazz music that Joe loved best of all. Joe saw Armstrong play twice and he vividly recalls going to see him play at Newcastle City Hall. I asked Dad what it was about Armstrong that he liked. He replied, "it was the darker tone of phrases he used." Joe was also influenced by Bix Beiderbeck and he also had a real soft spot for Alex Welsh.

 

Joe's first band was The Alley Cats - who wore a uniform of white shirt & black trousers with a cat cut out of black paper placed on the chest pocket area of the shirt. I don't know who else Joe played with at this time but  Joe later joined the North East Jazzband The River City Jazzmen in the early 60s, with whom he played with for many years. The band's line up changed from time to time, as all jazz bands' line ups do, but the members included such names as Gordon Solomon, Stan Martin, Billy Brooks, Dave Headley, Joe Shenton, Malcolm Armstrong, and a bass player called Gordon Sumner  - better known as Sting.

 

Joe started busking in Denmark during the summers. Joe retired from his job as Deputy Headmaster at Ryton Comprehensive School and eventually moved to Denmark. Joe began playing with several Danish orchestras , including Peter Nissen's New Orleans Jazz Band, Leif Andreasens' New Orleans Four. In approximately six years , Joe was a regular trumpet with  Jazzkompagniet. Joe helped start the music at the "White Lamb" on Kultorvet in Copenhagen with his friend Sjønne. Joe played at the White Lamb every Thursday (with Erik Spiermanns' orchestra) until his death.

 

In Febuary 1995, Joe landed his dream job as a trumpet player with Papa Bue's Viking Jazz Band. Joe had been playing a pick-up gig in the lobby where Papa Bue was playing in the main hall - Bue heard Joe play and went over and asked him to come to his 'office' the next day. It's well know that Bue liked to play practical  jokes, so Joe asked him if he was serious -- Bue looked at him and said "yes." Joe turned up the next day and it was agreed to give him a trial run. The first few nights Bue wasn't so happy with Joe's performance, since he was used to Ole Stolle style of play (and thought Joe played too many notes by comparison). Nevertheless, Bue decided to have Joe play a few more nights, after which Bue said "OK, it's fine" and thus began Joe's 18-year history with Papa Bue's Viking Jazz Band.

 

I asked Joe in his final weeks (not knowing he was going to die) what his life had been like. Joe answered: "I've had a really great life with no regrets"

 

Joe died on Friday, 13th December, 2013 in Gentofte Hospital with his old friend and bass player, Ole Olsen, and Ole's wife, Annelise, by his side. Ole played some Armstrong tunes to him and Joe just drifted off ...