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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 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

Friday, January 14, 2011

Review: The Magnificent Eric Delaney by Eddie Sammons

This is the revised and updated 2010 edition and it makes good reading - despite the fact that it has a photo of me next to the great man himself (In Rosie Malone's)!
Still going strong in his eighty seventh year Eric Delaney is a survivor and Eddie Sammons has captured his life - well most of it! - in great detail.
From his early days as a child prodigy through playing in Geraldo's Band, his own big band and various smaller units both at home and abroad it is a portrait of a man who never waited for opportunity to knock but made it happen. There are a number of musicians with North-east connections mentioned - Des Lumsden (who provided much of the material), Vince Bovill, Malcolm and Brian Saul, Ronnie Aspery, Colin Hodgkinson, Gerry Gerke and, of course, Bobby Carr (who joined in 1957) are some of the ones I noticed. There is also a couple of photos from The Porthole with Miles Watson and Doug Fielder and references to such local venues as the Fiesta Club, Stockton, the Sage, Gateshead, the Rex, Whitley Bay and Newcastle City Hall.
He also married a Sunderland lass - Pat Bergson.
A girl, Sarah Jane Burn from Annfield Plain, is quoted as winning a drumming competition - wonder what became of her?
Parochial interests aside - it's a great read that takes you back to the days when the Big (or in Eric's case 'biggish') Bands roamed the pre-motorway land to the present time when Eric Delaney still plays concerts, clubs wherever there's music he's there. The mutual admiration between Eric and Louis Bellson indicates if nothing else does Eric's standing in drum society.
I automatically reached out for my Oranges and Lemons CD at the finish of each chapter. Truckin' is a really fine arrangement. Eric told me a risque story about the title of that tune which I won't repeat here!
The Amazing Eric Delaney (329 pages) by Eddie Sammons is available from Amazon £11.99 + pp.
Lance

3 comments :

Berb said...

Sarah Burn is a good friend. We played in the same brass band together, (The Ever Ready Band, now The Reg Vardy Band. She is now playing in the Leyland brass band and is getting married this year.

Bob Stephenson.
Drummer/Percussionist/Actor

Lance said...

Thanks Bob and best wishes to Sarah.

Liz said...

Eric Delaney was a real character & hero to my generation .. "Delaney's delight" was always my fave..
Liz

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