Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18997 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 861 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 13) 40.

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

From This Moment On

October.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 4:45pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: NW FRQNC @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. Selina Albright, Gianni Vancini.
Wed 14: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 15: Leah Kirk: A Strange Affair @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Leah Kirk (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 15: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. PJO w. guest Graham Hardy (trumpet).

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Ancient Infinity Orchestra @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 16: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01. adv.; £15.00. on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Thursday, August 05, 2010

Harry Klein - very much a jazz death

I've learned, rather belatedly, of the death of British baritone player Harry Klein aged 81. The first of the British baritone hierarchy, that continued through Ronnie Ross and John Surman, Harry died on June 30 but his obits only seem to have appeared this week in Jazz UK and Wednesday's Guardian. A fine player who moved in the very fast circle of Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Vic Ash, Jimmy Deuchar and other stalwarts of the British '50s/60s modern scene. Sadly missed.
Obituary. Lance.
at

3 comments :

Trevor said...

I loved Harry's playing - in an age of Mulligan soundalikes Harry had his own very individual style. His playing always cheered you up. Even ballads were always cheerful -nothing maudlin as you could so often get in the work of Mulligan and Lars Gullin.
There is an especially ungrateful obituary written by Mark Gilbert in the September 2010 Jazz Journal. As Mr Gilbert probably wasn't even born when Harry's career was at it's peak, I think it can be taken with more than one grain of salt.
Even in 2010 there are players who try to sound like Mulligan, not themselves. One British player, who out of pity, I won't name, has even made four CDs trying to recreate the Mulligan quartet.
RIP Harry.
Trevor

Sunday, September 05, 2010 6:51:00 am
Lance said...

I have an old 10" lp by Kenny Baker called Operation Jam Session. During the course of a Ballad Medley Harry plays a sumptuous version of 'Sweet and Lovely' - magic!
I'll have to check the JJ obituary out - why speak ill of the dead?

Sunday, September 05, 2010 1:19:00 pm
Trevor said...

I know the record, Lance (it also came out as an EP on its own, the ballad medley that is.)

Earlier this year some 1955 Harry Klein was reissued by Vocalion on "Jazz Today" (CDNJT 5314), two EP's "Brash Baritone", a quartet session and "Baritone Saz" a quintet with Vic Ash. The rest of the CD has tracks by Vic (on clarinet throughout) and Buddy Feartherstonehaugh(ironically "doing a Mulligan").

The part of Mark Gilbert's obituary that offended me was
in mentioning that Harry was placed third in the Melody Maker Poll of 1955 behind Gerry and Lars,"the latter accolade, some would say, skewed on account of Klein's high visability at the time among London-based readers of the MM".

What Gilbert doesn't seem to understand is that the 1955 Poll, for example, would have been based on the jazz scene of 1954 and in that year though Ronnie Ross had come onto the scene, he was for much of that year, playing tenor sax, he switched to baritone when he worked with Don Rendell. In any case, with all due respect to Ron, he was very much a Mulligan-type player, as his first two records "Double Event" (1958) and "Jazzmakers" with Allan Ganley (1959) - he really didn't find his unique voice till the 60s, and "Cleopatras Needle" (Fontana, 1968) proves that, but back in 54/55 Harry was unique in having an individual sound

Trevor

Monday, September 06, 2010 12:19:00 pm

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