Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 2025

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

18035 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 999 of them this year alone and, so far, 13 this month (Dec. 7).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn. CANCELLED!
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

Sat 13: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums).
Sat 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 13: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 13: Washboard Resonators @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £14.09 (inc. bf).
Sat 13: Salty Dog @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:45pm. Americana, blues, jazz.
Sat 13: A Jazzy Xmas @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Faye Thompson (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (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, May 12, 2010

Fryer-Barnhart International Jazz Band w. Jimmy Mazzy @ The Saville Exchange, North Shields.

Jeff Barnhart (pno/vcl), Jim Fryer (tmb/tpt/vcl), Jimmy Mazzy (bjo/vcl), Gordon Whitworth (tpt/vcl), George Huxley (clt/sop/Grafton alto), Annie Hawkins (bs), Brian Mellor (bjo/gtr/vcl), Nick Ward (dms).
What can I say? This was fun - Good Time Jazz no less and often more.
Jeff Barnhart is not just larger than life but larger than just about anything! An amazing player and surely the spiritual son of Fats and James P.
Fellow American Jim Fryer blew nice, smooth, trombone a la Urbie Green/Teagarden/Cutty Cutshall. Jim also played trumpet as well as crooning like a true balladeer.
George Huxley, as well as blowing on Bechet's à bientot on soprano and clarinet also played a Grafton Alto Sax. Remember them? A plastic alto! Years ago, I had one that I bought for £25 and sold for £40 - today they sell for a lot of money. George got a good sound.
Gordon's Blue and Broken-hearted was a tribute to Wild Bill Davison - a vocal too. Gave us an idea of how Wild Bill may have sounded had he lived in Solihull
The banjos did the business and Mazzy also sang a few.
Nick Ward on traps was his usual laid back self which just leaves Annie Hawkins.
Always a darling I last heard Annie back in the 1980's in Breda she was a solid sender then - if you'll pardon my outdated jive talk - and still kicks things along.
Enjoyed chatting - her father was also called Lance so we bonded.
A good gig and what a piano player!
Lance.
at

3 comments :

Patti said...

Lance - first, thanks for all that you do via the blog to promote jazz across the region. Great writing and photos, and a wide range of jazz styles covered. How do you do it, we often wonder! Thanks again for this gig write up - just a pity that we didn't get a few more bums on seats to enjoy the music! Don't know how much longer we can can go on presenting music of this calibre, unless the fans start turning up again! Patti

Thursday, May 13, 2010 3:08:00 pm
Liz said...

yes Patti we don't know each other but your tribute to Lance's tireless work promoting & reporting on gigs locally & further afield is well deserved.
Liz

Thursday, May 13, 2010 11:56:00 pm
Lance said...

Thank you Liz and Patti but I should also mention, Liz, that Patti and her husband Mike themselves are deserved of many accolades in promoting Jazz at the Saville Exchange and, for the past 20 years, the Whitley Bay Jazz Festival.
Yourself too for supporting this blog the way you do way down south in York.

Friday, May 14, 2010 12:02:00 am

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