Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 2026)

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

Sat 14: The Too Bad Jims @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. R&B.
Sat 14: NUJO @ Venue, Newcastle University Students’ Union. Time TBC. £15.00. supporter; £10.00. standard; £5.00. student. Seated event.

Sun 15: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 15: The Too Bad Jims @ The Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. £12.00. R&B.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Rebecca Poole @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Poole w. Dean Stockdale & Ken Marley. CANCELLED!

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Alan Glen - A Tough Act To Follow But Not Impossible.

Alan Glen (pno), Lawrence Blackadder (bs), David Carnegie (dms).
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Dave Weisser (tpt), Eddie Bellis (tmb), Claude Werner (ten), Nicola (bar), Barry Ashcroft (pno), Robin Douthwaite, James (gtr), Stuart Davies (bs), Eric Stutt (dms).
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The monthly visit by the Alan Glen Trio to The Chillingham is always a cause for celebration and particularly so tonight when the emphasis was on bebop. This was an absolute gem of a set with "Bud's Bubble", "Yardbird Suite", "Blue Monk", "Loverman" just some of the 52nd Street anthems that hit the spot. Such dexterity and creativity should be bottled and sold or at least laid down on CD. As ever, Lawrence and David, held it all together and soloed with imagination. As good a set as I've yet to hear - and the night wasn't over!
It wasn't over but the AG Trio set a pretty high bench mark and an anti-climax looked likely.
Wrong!
Enter Claude Werner. The Chilean tenor player is as flamboyant a player as there is and he blew his brains out on "Whisper Not". On "Beautiful Love" Claude was, by his standards, restrained. By anyone else's ...
The brief blast on "Anthropology" at the end lost nothing by it's brevity with Dave Scatting and Claude shooting tenor at around sixty times the speed limit on the M1. It jumped!
There were other moments to relish - Nicola blowing some nice baritone, Eddie Bellis on trombone and Stuart, Eric, Robin on guitar, and Barry in the engine room. Later, James sat in on guitar and had a couple of good solos.
Earlier, prior to the entry of the gladiators, Dave sang a tasty version of "God Bless The Child".
One of the better ones.
Lance
PS: I hope I got Claude's name right this time round. Best check it out on his new CD "Thoughts and Recollections" of which more later...

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