Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18504 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 368 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 7 ) 22

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

May

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Hey Remember This @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 14: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Philip Larkin’s Jazz Experiment.
Thu 14: Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb country blues.
Thu 14: Solcade @ the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. 7:00pm. EP launch. Rivkala & co..
Thu 14: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.
Thu 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 15: Conor Emery Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Line-up Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 adv., £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Puppini Sisters @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Mon 18: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Mark Williams Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 19: GoGo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £22.00 + £4.40 bf.
Tue 19: Danny Lowndes’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £5.00 bf.
Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums).

Friday, February 01, 2013

CD Review: The Ken Hatfield Sextet - For Langston

Ken Hatfield (guitar, composer, arranger); Hilary Gardner (vocals); Jamie Baum (alto flute);  Hans Glawischnig (bass); Jeff Hirshfield (drums); Steven Kroon (percussion) Langston Hughes (1902-1967 lyrics).
(Review by Ann Alex)
Phew! This review has been done just in time for what would have been Langston Hughes birthday, which is February 1.  So what, you ask?  Well the CD is a celebration of Hughes’ poetry. His writing was part of what is known in the USA as the Harlem Renaissance, sometimes known as ‘Jazz Poetry’, verse evoking blues forms, easy to listen to, yet full of rich observations about love, life and politics.
Hatfield, the composer, has gathered superb musicians for this project, including Hilary Gardner, a skilled soprano using her voice as a jazz singer should, and Jamie Baum on alto flute, making an interesting change from the usual saxes and trumpets of the front line.
Tracks include an instrumental, Overture, with a distinctly urban sound, yet quirky as well; an amusing blues I Don’t Believe in Titles; (I quote)
        Do not call me doctor if I get a Phd
        Just keep on calling me sweetie, ‘cos that is good to me
        I don’t believe in titles when it comes to love’
This track has a good bass solo and a definite 1920’s blues feel.
Then there’s Lonely Nocturne, which is about coming home with no-one to welcome you, which manages to be sad yet playful; In Time of Silver Rain the flute imitates raindrops; Silent One, with a Latin beat and percussion solo of gently ringing cymbals; political songs, one about a dead soldier and another concerning youthful revolutionaries who have no doubts; Convent/Silence, an unusual song with soft continuous cymbals which cleverly give the effect of quietness and space.  The final track is a suitable ending, The Bells Toll Kindly, about dying to the sound of bells and remembering love, but not at all morbid. The general mood of the CD is optimistic, with lots of forward-moving tunes, and many short solos on flute and guitar.  Another disc I’m glad to have in my collection.
The Ken Hatfield Sextet: For Langston is released on February1, 2013 by Arthur Circle Music.
Ann Alex.

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