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Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, 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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Hopper-Watson Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £10.00. + £1.00. bf.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 10: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Soloists, Orchestras & Hot Fives.
Thu 10: Side Café Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 11: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00. A Bishop Auckland Jazz promotion. New venue (second Friday in the month)!
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Beehive, Earsdon NE25 0SZ. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Fiona Finden Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewery, North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

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

Monday, April 29, 2013

I'll Never Forget

(A Memory from Liz)
My heroes of popular music of the 40’s, 50’s and beyond were Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra. Their interpretation of the great American Songbook backed by the wonderful arrangements by the top bands of the day gave the world enormous pleasure. So…I’ll never forget the time I saw these two giants of song live, in person, on stage.

First there was Ella; this was way back in the early 50’s. My dad asked me if I would like to see her live at Leeds Odeon. Although I had barely heard of her, I knew that she must be something special as my dad was an authority on jazz, and he knew all the best performers. We travelled there by train – it was the wettest night I can remember -  standing in a long queue and getting soaked! This concert was part of a tour by “Jazz at the Philharmonic” promoted, of course, by Norman Granz. Granz was associated with most of the great jazz performers of his time and was both loved and hated for his anti racist beliefs. He overruled segregation; always insisting that his artists were treated equally irrespective of race. Norman Granz managed Ella throughout her life.
Ella was pure magic that night, a young black woman with a God given voice, a natural, who had an amazing range. She could sing sweet and she could sing scat like I had never heard before. I was hooked; I don’t believe she has ever been bettered in her genre. Not for nothing has she always been dubbed “The first lady of song.“ I ultimately bought and collected her records over the years, never wasting an opportunity to listen to her on radio, later to watch her TV shows, and sing along with all of those wonderful songs she made so popular with her own inimitable style.
In the case of Frank Sinatra, I had idolised him from my teens, much like thousands of other young girls, and anyone who appreciated his extraordinary quality of voice and ability to interpret a lyric in the way the writer had meant it to be. I already had many of his LP’s by the 70’s when one day I read that he was to perform at the Royal Albert Hall. I just knew I had to see him. How I managed to get a ticket, let alone afford it, escapes my memory, but get a ticket I did.
My friend and I booked into a B and B and readied ourselves for the big night. I had this cream suit, it was a beauty, and I wore it with pride as it was a special sort of outfit, and very fitting that I should wear it in this night of nights.
We found our seats, we weren't together, but mine was very near to the stage and an armchair sort of affair, it was very grand. The place was packed to the rafters, banners were held aloft in the boxes, with messages such as “Hi Frankie”, and it was pure magic. We were restless in the first half of the show as it was the Brazilian Sergio Mendes and his band…but we hadn’t come to see Sergio, talented though he was, oh no!
When finally the second half began, there was a hush, and a voice from afar announced “Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Frank Sinatra”…well we just went wild, and for a moment I thought I would faint with excitement, and had to take deep breaths to calm down, and then we were off, song after song, wonderful arrangements from the finest musicians. He went from slow and dreamy to fast and paced. All of the time he was on, gifts were being brought down from fans to the edge of the stage by the security men. There were dozens of presents and flowers too. It was amazing.
The rest is a beautiful blur. How fortunate I have been to see live two of the world’s finest performers of modern song. They have stood the test of time, and their music lives on.
Liz.

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