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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Solihull Jazz and Blues Festival.

If you're looking to a) Celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee or b) Escape the Queen's Diamond Jubilee then a trip down Birmingham way may be the answer.
Solihull in the West Midlands is set to get visitors jumping and jiving at the first-ever Solihull Jazz and Blues Festival which runs from Friday 1st- Monday 4th June 2012.
Organised by Solihull Business Improvement District (BID) with support from the legendary Jim Simpson from Big Bear Music, probably the oldest independent record label in the UK; the festival is designed to bring local residents, visitors and jazz and blues aficionados together to enjoy some of the most-popular and accomplished performers on the circuit across the four day event.
There will be performances from Tipitina; Broombusters; 52 Skidoo; The Fabulous Boogie Boys; Val Wiseman, Simon Spillett and Roy Forbes with their Quartets; The Brian Newton Big Band...and the fabulously-named Ricky Cool and Hoola Boola Boys who count music legend Robert Plant amongst their fans.
The weekend kicks off with a launch party on the evening of Friday 1st June with bands playing all evening on a specially-constructed stage in the town’s Jubilee gardens, with visitors enjoying the music from the many bars and restaurants overlooking the stage. A second stage will open in the town’s Mell Square from Saturday morning (June 2nd) and there will also be performers popping up across the town centre.
Also on the Saturday, the infectious honky-tonk sound of Mardi Gras will fill the town as a New Orleans-style processional band, followed by dancers and colourful characters, creates a carnival feel in the High Street. The procession will also include stilt walkers, flamenco dancers, Bhangra dancers and some brilliant Jitterbug performers.
Shirley Sturzaker, Director of Solihull BID said: “It’s going to be an amazing weekend. There’s no sound that says summer is here more than a foot-tapping jazz band and nothing quite as relaxing as listening to the wistful lyrics of a blues singer.
“We are lucky to have some of the most-accomplished jazz and blues performers in the country taking to the stage in Solihull across the weekend and, if you add in the Mardi Gras-style procession and Jubilee Street Party, it promises to be a fabulous event for the whole family.”
Jim Simpson, owner of Big Bear Music, added: “This promises to be a fun weekend with lots of straight-ahead jazz and blues in a relaxed setting with stages just a few minutes apart. By and large the music is jazz from the swing era, and blues that jumps and jives.”
Lance.
Above info from Deborah Smith www.wordsmith-communication.co.uk

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