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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

1803759 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 480 of them this year alone and, so far, 58 this month (June 18).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sat 21: Jason Holcomb Jazz Ensemble @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 5:30-7:30pm. Free. A 'Sunderland Year of Music' event.
Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

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

Wednesday, May 02, 2012

The Stu Brown Sextet - Twisted Toons: the music of Raymond Scott

The Stu Brown Sextet animates village halls in Wark, Corbridge and Whittingham with an evening exploring the weird and wonderful music of ‘the man who made the cartoons swing’. Raymond Scott was a little known band leader, composer and inventor, whose wacky, hyper-animated, eyeball-popping ‘cartoon jazz’ is most widely recognisable for it’s use in the Looney Tunes cartoons from the 1940’s onwards and, more recently, in Ren and Stimpy, and The Simpsons. The evening will feature offbeat compositions, performed by Stu’s brilliantly orchestrated sextet - Brian Molley -Tenor Sax; Martin Kershaw – Clarinet; Tom MacNiven – trumpet; Tom Gibbs – piano, Ray Percy – double bass and Stu Brown on drums.

The show opens with a specially commissioned eight minute documentary film about Raymond Scott, made by his son, Stan Warnow. The sextet then take over with tunes such as ‘Dinner Music for a Pack of Hungry Cannibals’ and Square Dance for ‘Eight Egyptian Mummies’ which lent themselves perfectly to the antics of Bugs, Daffy and Road Runner.
The group has proved immensely popular with audiences of all ages and backgrounds, from jazz fans, to general music lovers, to film and animations fans, and families with young children. They have played to crowds at many of the UK’s leading jazz festivals, including Manchester, Cheltenham, Edinburgh & Gateshead.
“Wittily daft, exotic and swinging…his band bounce through the hilariously detailed charts with immense relish and skill. Brilliant resurrection of 1930’s crackpot jazz” Chris Ingham, Mojo Magazine
Thursday 10th May 7.30pm. Whittingham Village Hall, Whittingham, NE66 4UP.£7 / £4.50 concession
01665 574 964.
Friday 11th May 7.30pm. Wark Town Hall & Mechanics Institute, Wark NE48 3LH £7 / £6 concession 01434 230 250.
Sunday 13th May 7.30pm. Corbridge Parish Hall, St Helens Street, NE45 5BE.
£7.50/ £4 child/ £20 family ticket. 07500 822 784.

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