Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Stedman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Friday, July 09, 2010

Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival Day One - Evening

Hot Antic Jazz Band (France)
Bohém Ragtime Jazz Band (Hungary)
Bent Persson's New York Orchestra (International)
Les Roi du Fox-Trot (pictured - France)
That this festival should be in its final year is really sad. 150 musicians from 10 countries is not bad going for an event held in a hotel on an industrial estate in Shiremoor. Add 500 plus punters from all over the world and the enormity of it begins to sink in.
The fact that many of the names meant little to me means nothing - if anything it added to the oft quoted 'Sound of Surprise'.
This was never more evident than the delights I found myself discovering in the Hungarian Bohém Ragtime Jazz band. This is a band comprising of 2 violinists one of whom, apart from being the leader, Tamas Ittzés, also sings and plays piano. Tamas sung and swung on piano and vocalised like Buddy Greco on Don't Get Around Much Any More. Trumpet player Lebanov József played with drive and technique whilst trombonist, Korb Atilla, had a lovely smooth Teagarden, Urbie Green sound - he was okay on flugel and cornet too!
Space precludes elaboration; suffice to say their versatility on different instruments, singing, dancing and comedy bordering on slapstick, made this the most entertaining set of the night.
Musically, what I most wanted to catch was Bent Persson's Red Allen Tribute. Well I did but, after dalliance, I was a latecomer and only just squeezed in behind an ever opening door.
Despite the brilliant resuscitation of the Allen/Luis Russell classics - and they were superb - I left Kelly's Stables for the more spatial Cotton Club. That's right all four jazz rooms are named after famous venues from days of yore - the others being the Sunset Café and the One-Cent Club.
In the Cotton Club Les Rois du Fox-Trot were strutting their stuff and drawing a few couples to the dance floor.
Another full house and another good band whose infectious pre-swing style soon had a hold of the listeners and the dancers.
Earlier, The Hot Antic Jazz Band had opened the evening session in Kelly's with an entertaining set that was full of Gallic charm. I loved the way they handled My Gal Sal - 3/4 introduction, rhapsodic verse then stomping chorus and idiomatic solos.
Too soon it was time for me to leave and fathom out my route home which I did - eventually!
Lance
at

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