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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

Tuesday, August 06, 2013

More Memories of Sheila from Brian Bennett.

Back in the mid 70's, VCJ bass player Brian Sibbald and myself played in a band called The St Louis Jazzmen. We had a weekly residency at a sea-front pub in Whitley Bay called The Granby - long since renamed 42nd Street. Sheila Giles and her friends, bass player/pianist, Brian Fisher, along with legendary local jazz pianist, Peter Jacobsen, would occasionally call in for a drink and a sit-in. One of the numbers Sheila would sing was 'I've got Ford engine movements in my hips' - a great song well suited to Sheila's lusty vocal style - the band for obvious reasons thought it was great.
Many years later around 2004, I received a phone call from Sheila who had recently moved back 'up North' and had bought a property in the Dinnington/Prestwick area of Wideopen - a locality she knew well as she had lived there for quite some time with her former husband, artist David Hinge. She complained that she hadn't been able to 'settle' and was unhappy with her surroundings and location and that she wanted "out of here as soon as possible". She also complained about health issues at that time. Shortly afterwards, she moved 'down South' and I lost touch with her.
By coincidence, and shortly after Sheila had moved out of the area, the Vieux Carré Jazzmen were booked to play at a reunion party in The Park Hotel, Tynemouth, for a 1950's theatre troupe called 'The Merry Magpies'. The troupe comprised singers, musicians, dancers and comedians and one of the comics had been local legend, Bobby Thompson. Bobby had passed away in 1989 and was represented by his son, Keith, who gave a speech and told many humourous anecdotes about his father. Also there, was Sheila Giles' ex husband, David Hinge. David's family were the owners of the 'Hinge Circuit' a chain of cinemas and theatres located around the north east, many of which the Merry Magpies had performed in.
David kindly gave me several old photographs and one of them shows Sheila at home with family and friends for a Christmas celebration sometime in the late 1950's or early 1960's. Sheila, wearing her trademark spec's is seated on the right. Unfortunately, I can't identify David - I seem to recall, tho, he had a beard and moustache when I met him last.
Photos.
Previous Sheila Giles post and comments. Brian Bennett
at

2 comments :

Colin Aitchison said...

Hi Brian,
I remember The Granby, and do remember Brian Fisher & Peter Jacobson dropping in now and then. I see on the photo you have Martin Simon right hand bottom corner, and the cornet player was a brass band guy called, I think "Biff" that was his nick name, all I can remember about him, is that he did not like anyone on his turf!!! happy memories..
Colin Aitchison
Hong Kong.

Saturday, August 10, 2013 12:14:00 pm
Colin Aitchison said...

Hi Lance,
On Sheila Giles, so sorry to hear of her passing, I remember her when I was very young, she sang quite a while with Ronnie MaClean & The All Stars at The New Orleans Jazz Club, Forth Banks, she had such a stage presence and a aura around her,that as a young kid, I never new what to say, when she asked me something, just used to clam up.
To the Bessie Smith of The North East may she R.I.P.

Saturday, August 10, 2013 12:17:00 pm

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