Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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, July 15, 2013

CD Review: Glenn Cashman's Southland Nonet - Music Without Borders

Carl Saunders, Ron Stout (tpt/flg); Andy Martin (tmb); Bruce Babad (alt); Glenn Cashman (ten/comp/arr); Bob Efford (bar); Ed Czach (pno); Luther Hughes (bs); Paul Kreibich (dms); Eric Fütterer (comp/arr)..
Don't let the title put you off - this is no pet shop fire! In fact I'm a little unclear what the title implies! Médicins Sans Frontières is said to be the inspiration Perhaps it means that music should be without borders? Fortunately, the compositions and arrangements of Glenn Cashman and Eric Fütterer are well within the borders of what I recognise as good jazz. 
In this case, as the recording took place in LA, a West Coast element overrides all. Not surprising as veteran west coaster Howard Rumsey acted as adviser to Cashman and  Fütterer when they organised their first jazz festival in the Muckenthaler Hall - known affectionately as "The Muck" - an amphitheatre donated to the community by the Muckenthaler family.. We need more such benefactors in these troubled times.
For obvious parochial reasons I'll start at the bottom - harmonically speaking - Bob Efford, former Ted Heath tenorist, long since Hollywood resident, blows some gutsy baritone on Carnaval. Good to know Bob is still lighting fires - by my reckoning he is now 85! He gets a second bite with his cadenza on Cadenza for Cadenas.
The other saxes, to use a Liz (one of our occasional reviewers) expression, blow their socks off and in so doing blow ours off too! This could be Miles' Birth of the Cool Band or the Mulligan Tentette 60 years on. Cashman is much more than a swinging tenor player - his arrangements and compositions are tops and co-composer arranger Fütterer is up there too. Cashman and Fütterer may not have the same ring as Ellington and Strayhorn but they're getting there.
The trumpets/flugels are well versed in the idiom. I'm not sure who solos on what but they both earn their Budweisser. Martin has some nice 'bone moments and Babad reminds us of the legacy the California scene left us with Art, Lee, Bud, two Sonny's and Herb -  and now Bruce.
A rhythm section to die for - you want egg roll as well?
Love it.
Lance.

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