Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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 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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