{{short description|English music venue owner born in 1939}} '''Keith Crombie''' (c. 1939, Seaham – 29 December 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.<ref>[http://www.readysteadygone.co.uk/club-agogo-newcastle/ Club a'Gogo] by Roger Smith, accessed 7 Aug 2013</ref> 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 selective about whom he allowed into the Jazz Café, famously having turned away the entire Newcastle FC squad. Crombie had a colourful past, including a school-era musical collaboration with two members of The Shadows, a brief career as a getaway driver, and dealings with The Krays while working in the nightclub scene.<ref>[http://geordiejazzman.com/sample-page/synopsis Geordie Jazz Man synopsis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413072422/http://geordiejazzman.com/sample-page/synopsis/ |date=2021-04-13 }}, accessed 2 Mar 2021</ref>
Crombie was a familiar sight to students at Newcastle University and Northumbria University (he was known as "The Jazz Man"),<ref>[http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/51509/friends-pay-tribute-to-jazz-legend-keith-crombie Friends Pay Tribute To Jazz Legend Keith Crombie] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130807222933/http://tyneandwear.sky.com/news/article/51509/friends-pay-tribute-to-jazz-legend-keith-crombie |date=2013-08-07 }}, Sky News Tyne and Wear, Accessed 7 Aug 2013.</ref> where he would distribute leaflets advertising his venue. Although the Jazz Café mostly booked local talent 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'', and later renamed to ''Geordie Jazz Man'', started filming before his death.<ref>[http://www.thejazzmandoc.com/synopsis.html The Jazz Man Doc] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180727051628/http://www.thejazzmandoc.com/synopsis.html |date=2018-07-27 }}, accessed 7 Aug 2013</ref><ref>[http://www.geordiejazzman.com/synopsis.html Geordie Jazz Man]{{Dead link|date=October 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot }}, accessed 2 Mar 2021</ref><ref>https://youtube.com/watch?v=hkky-k8SNrM Geordie Jazz Man trailer, accessed 2 Mar 2021</ref>
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.
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * [https://jazz.coop/ Jazz Coop] – An organization set up to promote jazz in the Northeast after Keith Crombie's death
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crombie, Keith}} Category:People from Seaham Category:People from Newcastle upon Tyne Category:1939 births Category:2012 deaths Category:British jazz