Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

April

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

CD Review: Man Overboard - All Hands on Deck

Thomas Gould (vln); Ewan Bleach (clt/sax); Dave O'Brien (bs); Jean-Marie Fagon (gtr); Louisa Jones (vcl).
(Review by Lance).
Just imagine, if Grappelli and Goodman had got together, what the end product would have sounded like!
By closing your eyes and allowing a little (well quite a bit) of imagination it's reasonable to assume the outcome could have sounded like this.
Both Gould and Bleach are facile performers with their classical backgrounds occasionally peeking through. How High the Moon is almost fuguelike in places but still with a delightful thirties/forties feel to it. The rhythm section are absolutely steeped in the idiom giving the required um-chug so essential to the authenticity of the style. Bleach, apart from his Goodman moments also has Bechet blasts - particularly on Premier Bal.
Louisa Jones is deceivingly laid back in her approach - if Billie Holiday had been singing these tunes today maybe Lady Day (imagination time again) might have sounded a little like this. But whatever, the end result is quite captivating.
The tunes? 18 good ones including Honeysuckle Rose, That Old Feeling, All of Me, Avalon, Lullaby of the Leaves, St. James Infirmary, Topsy... .
If I describe this as Music of The Blitz - Harry Parry, Hatchett's etc it is in no way meant to be a putdown - far from it! - and I can appreciate that these guys are going to be big on the Swing dance scene which is emerging like a reborn old time religion - "May I have the next Jitterbug before the Doodlebug blows us all to Buggery!"
Sleeve notes on this  Champs Hill Records release are by Sebastian Scotney of LondonJazzNews.
Man Overboard - All Hands on Deck is due to be launched at The Vortex Jazz Club, London on June 18, 2013.
Lance.
at

1 comment :

Lance said...

I've since discovered that rhythm guitarist Jean-Marie Fagon came over here to Sunderland from Paris in 1980 and played in a band - The Suspects (AKA The Cesspits) They appeared on a compilation album Sunderland NE1 alongside the Toy Dolls.
The music on "All Hands on Deck" is somewhat different!

Wednesday, May 22, 2013 6:35:00 pm

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive