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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

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.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

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

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival Day 3 - Evening

La Retaguardia Jazz Band (Chile) - pictured above.
Matthias Seuffert Sextet and Cecile McLorin Salvant (International) - pictured left.
Matthias Seuffert (ten), Jean-Francoise Bonnel (tpt/ten), Martin Litton (pno), Martin Wheatley (gtr), Malcolm Sked (bs), Nick Ward (dms), AND Cecile McLorin Salvant.
For me, if there has to be one defining moment of this happy festival (happy yet sad that there will be no more) it was the set I caught by Matthias and that wonderful singer Cecile McLoen Salvant.
I missed her previous sessions which were tributes to Billie and Bessie but I praised the Lord for passing me the ammunition to catch this one.
Okay so I only heard three numbers by her but I loved every one. Everything I Have Is Yours, Anything Goes (including the verse) I even forgave her for taking a breath in the middle eight! (it's not easy - try it) and a gorgeous rendition of Born To Be Blue.
This was superb songstering - sheer poetry. Needless to say I hurried back for the second set but the word was out and Kelly's Stables was full.
In the photo above the audience appear to be looking elsewhere, - this was due to the fact I had to take the picture via a mirror.
I'll repeat the name Cécile McLorin Salvant - YouTube her here. On this particlular clip Jean-Francoise Bonnell plays piano. Tonight he played tenor and cornet truly an amazing player!
Matthias blew good tenor on what was ostensibly a tribute to Don Byas. I wondered if this was the first time a Tadd Dameron tune - Good Bait - had been played at Whitley Bay?
This was good middle of the road stuff. Matthias said, and I quote, "We're usually considered too modern for the classic jazz festivals and not modern enough for the modern jazz festivals."
He'll do for me!
The other band I caught tonight was La Retaguardia Jazz Band from Chile.
Hard to believe that, only a few miles away, another Chilean, saxist Claude Werner, was playing at The Trojan Rooms, Whitley Bay, as part of a fringe festival.
La Retaguardia opened up with spirited versions of Wang Wang Blues and Stevedore Stomp delighting the large audience and proving that this really was an international festival. Excellent interpreters of classic jazz, they are based in Santiago and appear regularly on Chilean TV - take note BBC and ITV. I wanted to stay longer but the appeal of Cecile was too strong and I left to return to Kelly's Stables but, alas, there was no room at the inn.
Nevertheless, this effected me the opportunity to chat with Colin Aitchison, Our Man In Hong Kong, over here on a flying visit. No doubt Colin will be dropping in somewhere for a jam. With him was his nephew who is also a BSH visitor.
That's the beauty of Festivals and concerts - you always meet someone unexpected - and vice versa!
There was more Jazzfall this past weekend in and around the Coast than you get in the average month.
Lance.
PS:All may not be lost for the future. Organiser Mike Durham, providing he gets enough interest, has outlined plans for a JAZZ PARTY at the same venue on the 4-6 of November 2011. I'll be posting more details shortly.
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1 comment :

noushka said...

A Sailboat in the moonlight and you, Tribute to Billie Holiday
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=416233326459&oid=91069268131

Monday, July 19, 2010 6:45:00 am

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