Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''I believe we are living in a historically embarrassing moment in American history.'' - Downbeat December 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

18061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1025 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Dec. 14).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ YOLO, Ponteland. 7:00pm. ‘Swing & Jazz Night’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 18: Joe Steels & Friends @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Fri 19: Fraser Urquhart @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! .
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. .
Fri 19: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy..
Fri 19: Paul Skerritt @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes. .
Fri 19: Giles Strong Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club..
Fri 19: Creakin’ Bones & the Xmas Dinners @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £13.01 (inc. bf)..
Fri 19: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.

Sat 20: Jazz Attack @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 11:00am. Free.
Sat 20: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy. SOLD OUT!
Sat 20: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: Hoodoo Blues @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:15pm (doors). £14.25, £11.55. Dance class, social dancing, live music & Xmas Party. Live music from 9:00pm - Ruth Lambert, Giles Strong, Ian Paterson & John Bradford (jazz and blues).
Sat 20: John Pope Quintet @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 7:30-8:30pm. £7.70 (inc. bf). Album recording session.

Sun 21: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. ‘Xmas Swingalong’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ o2 City Hall, Newcastle. 6:00pm. £35.80., £33.25., £31.00.
Sun 21: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:30pm. Free.

Mon 22: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:30pm. ‘The A Capella Sessions’. Gardner, Paula Gardner, Alexia Hope Gardner Diamany.
Wed 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

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

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

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive