Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 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

Saturday, October 27, 2012

2012 Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party - Day One Friday October 26.

As I wasn't at the Classic Jazz Party yesterday I can but give you a run-down on the concerts that took place.
In fact if you look at the line-ups you'll realise it speaks for itself! Better still - go to Jazz Lives.
Lance.
12 noon – 1.00pm: From Rags to Raggin’ The Scale                         
Keith Nichols is joined by Martin Wheatley (banjo/guitar), Emma Fisk (violin), Norman Field (reeds) and Frans Sjöström (bass sax) in a programme of piano ragtime and early “chamber jazz” to open the Party
1.00-2.00pm: Really The Blues                                   
Switzerland’s Thomas Winteler recalls the great reed duets made with various frontline partners by the titanic Sidney Bechet. With Stéphane Gillot and Matthias Seuffert (reeds), Martin Seck (piano), Henry Lemaire (banjo & guitar), Manu Hagmann (bass) and Richard Pite (drums)           
2.00-2.30pm: Blue Guitars          
Spats Langham and Martin Wheatley recreate the phenomenal duet recordings of Lonnie Johnson and Eddie Lang, the latter playing under the pseudonym “Blind Willie Dunn” as a sop to the prejudice against “mixed” sessions prevalent at that time
2.30-3.00pm: Too Sweet For Words                        
Pianist Lovie Austin was queen of the Chicago South Side jazz scene in the twenties. Her recordings with her Blues Serenaders are recalled by René Hagmann (cornet), Thomas Winteler (clarinet & soprano), Jens Lindgren (trombone), Martin Litton (piano), Roly Veitch (banjo) and Josh Duffee (drums & washboard)
3.00-4.00pm: Whoopee Stomp 
The Whoopee Makers recorded many sides in 1928/29. Andy Schumm leads this set in memory of Jimmy McPartland, with Alistair Allan (trombone), Michael McQuaid & Norman Field (reeds), Keith Nichols (piano), Spats Langham (banjo/ guitar), Frans Sjöström (bass sax), Phil Rutherford (sousa) and Richard Pite (drums)
4.00-5.00pm: Oh! Mister Jelly!  
Martin Litton leads his Red Hot Peppers in a programme of the music of the legendary Jelly Roll Morton: with Martin are Enrico Tomasso (trumpet), Kristoffer Kompen (trombone), Matthias Seuffert and Michael McQuaid (reeds), Martin Wheatley (banjo & guitar), Malcolm Sked bass & sousa) and Nick Ward (drums)
DINNER INTERVAL
7.30-8.30pm: Fifty Hot Choruses              
In 1927, Louis Armstrong recorded 50 Hot Choruses for trumpet. Bent Persson puts these gems into  complete tunes, with Jens Lindgren (trombone), Thomas Winteler, René Hagmann & Jean-François Bonnel (reeds), Martin Seck (piano), Jean-Pierre Dubois (banjo), Frans Sjöström (bass sax) and Josh Duffee (drums)
8.30-9.00pm: The Hottest Man In Town                
Spats Langham, ukulele and vocal, pays homage to one of his heroes, the eccentric singer Cliff Edwards (also known as Ukulele Ike). With Norman Field (reeds), Keith Nichols (piano) and Frans Sjöström (bass sax)
9.00pm-9.30pm  Come On Over To My Place, Baby                         
Cécile McLorin Salvant sings songs by Julia Lee, a fine blues singer/pianist/songwriter from the 1940s; backing by  Rico Tomasso (trumpet), Kristoffer Kompen (trombone), Matthias Seuffert & Jean-François  Bonnel (reeds), Martin Litton (piano), Roly Veitch (guitar), Manu Hagmann (bass), Richard Pite (drums)
9.30-10.00pm: Goin’ Hunting                    
South Side pianist/composer Jimmy Bertrand’s sidesmen included Louis, Johnny Dodds and Punch Miller. Bent Persson (trumpet), Thomas Winteler (clarinet), Keith Nichols (piano) and Nick Ward (washboard) play a selection  of his recordings for you
10.00-10.30pm: Sing Me A Torch Song
Cecile McLorin Salvant and Spats Langham sing songs of lost love, unrequited love and general wistfulness, with sentimental accompaniment from Duke Heitger (trumpet), Alstair Allan (trombone), Norman Field (reeds), Emma Fisk (violin), Martin Litton (piano),  Henry Lemaire (bass) and Richard Pite (drums)
10.30-11.30pm: That Syncopated Melody Man                 
A tribute to singer Red McKenzie, with Andy Schumm (blue-blowing), Mike Durham (trumpet), Jens Lindgren (trombone), Norman Field &  Jean-François Bonnel (reeds) Martin Seck (piano), Spats Langham (banjo & guitar), Frans Sjöström (bass sax), Malcolm Sked (bass), Emma Fisk (violin), Josh Duffee (drums)
11.30pm-12.30am (in the Victory Pub):  The Blue Rhythmakers 
A rare reunion session by a band that first saw light of day on a Stomp Off recording in 2001: Bent Persson, Matthias Seuffert, Kristoffer Kompen, Keith Nichols, Martin Wheatley, Frans Sjöström and Nick Ward star in our first late-night session (followed by open Jam Session from 12.30am to whenever they close the bar…..)

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