Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

April

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Jazz Singing Class - A Poetical Account

At long last love
Here we are again
Helen and Heather and Colin and Ken
Andrea, Eve, myself and Jen
Jazz Singing

Night and day
We are the ones
Counting in times and deciding on keys
Splitting up tunes into A, B, or C
Jazz Singing

For all we know
It could be a ballad, a Latin or swing
We need to know which so we know how to sing
Lindsey will guide us, she knows everything
Jazz Singing


We don’t go to strangers
Alan on piano plays from our list
Of keys, which probably don’t exist
But he plays them all with a jazzy twist
Jazz Singing

It will be so nice
At the Jazz Cafe gig when the work is done
With the Blue jazz Quintet, we’ll have some fun
(and a challenge, ‘learn the words’)
Jazz Singing

Sorry, but I couldn’t fit in the names of all the class members.  No prizes for guessing the titles of the songs referred to!

Ann Alex

7 comments :

Lance said...

Thanks Ann for that poem. All I can say is that "At words poetic you're not pathetic" - in fact...
You're the top,
You're Mister Mel Tormé,
You're the top
You're Miss Eydie Gormé
You're Anita on stage in a dress that's quite insane,
You're Carmen McRae
You're Doris Day
You're Cleo Laine.

jerry said...

Like it - the whole world is getting poetical!

JERRY

Lance said...

Another verse...
You're the top,
You're Lena Horne,
You're the top,
You're Sarah Vaughan,
You're Frank Sinatra singing at the Sands,
You're Policeman Sting,
You're good old Bing,
You're Basie's Band.

Liz said...

To the tune of "Cheek to Cheek"

Hebburn, you're in Hebburn
It's the town where I grew up in Tyne & Wear
Now it's got a whole new meaning, that seems clear
For it's now the home of Bebop Spoken Here
Liz!!

Ann Alexander said...

Lance, Maybe BSH should switch to being a poetry blog at the rate we're going. Mind, i'm not sure about being compared to Bing or Basie's band, since I'm a woman, but thanks anyway!

Lance said...

Ann, it's not you that is being compared to Bing or Basie but your writing skills!

Ann Alexander said...

Lance, Goodness, fame at last!
Ann Alex

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