Keith Crombie

Keith Crombie (c. 1939, Seaham – December 29, 2012, Newcastle upon Tyne) was a music venue owner and promoter in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. He worked on the North East jazz scene since the 1960s, starting at the Downbeat jazz club.[1] In the early 1990s he started the Jazz Café, a small music venue which he owned and operated until his death in 2012. Crombie was very picky about whom he allowed into the Jazz Café. He famously turned away the entire Newcastle FC squad. There are also various mistruths regarding Crombie (he never met the Kray twins).

Crombie was a familiar sight to students at Newcastle University and Northumbria University (he was known as "The Jazz Man"),[2] where he would distribute leaflets advertising his venue. Although the Jazz Café mostly booked local names and rarely featured any big names, it was often cited as a frequent stop for musicians with business elsewhere in the city. A documentary about Crombie, titled The Jazz Man started filming before his death.[3]

Shortly after Crombie's death a group of enthusiasts and local people set up a co-operative to continue his work of promoting jazz. The Jazz Café was refurbished and opened again after having been closed for a period after Crombie's death and is operated by Newcastle Arts Centre.