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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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

Friday, November 01, 2013

When Swing Was King: Customs House, South Shields, Fri Oct 31

Cécile Mclorin Salvant (vocals); Matthias Seuffert sax/clt); Duke Heitger (tpt); Jean-Francois Bonnel (sax/clt); Keith Nichols (pno/vcl); ‘Spats’ Langham (gtr); Henry Lemaire (bs); Richard Pite (dms)
(Review by Ann Alex)
This was a wow of an eve of the popular Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party gig which is being held this weekend across the river at the Village Inn near Shiremoor.  The theatre was near full to hear the band kick off swing numbers by the likes of Bunny Berigan (wonderful name) and Artie Shaw.  Broken Record featured singing by Nichols, with amusing repeated phrases as per the title, and the horns and trumpet wasting no time in getting into the 1920’s/30’s groove.  There followed much relaxed fun with Jelly Roll Blues and Mahogany Hall Stomp (Louis Armstrong) so naturally a skilled trumpet was featured for that one.  Other entertaining solos came from bass and guitar.
Enter Cécile, dressed in red with a black cloak over one shoulder, which neatly complemented the band who wore smart dark suits with just hints of red accessories such as ties.  And of course she wore her signature white-rimmed dark glasses, a striking figure, singing the only song she did in the first half - a taster of the delights to come.  This was a slow sad Billie Holiday number; Deep Song, feelingly done, and the performance reminded me of what was said in a previous review on BSH, that this singer has a huge range with strong soulful lower notes and tender sounds of sadness in her higher register.  The band then gave us Hop, Skip and, Jump with a lovely pause before the jump, showing the amusing fun displayed in music of this period, followed by The Man I Love, featuring clarinet, Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat and Grabtown Grapple, with an excellent drum solo by Pite done on brushes with perfect timing and showmanship.
Cécile featured in most of the second half, beginning with I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me and the wonderfully assertive Baby I Don’t Cry Over You, a very appealing set of lyrics about a woman who merely goes out with other men and drinks cocktails if her boyfriend doesn't turn up!  If Dreams Come True had the band trading 4’s, and they shone again on their instrumental Shanghai Shuffle, lots of effective solos and an entertaining clicky sound from the bass.  Cécile sang for the rest of the concert, a gentle On The Sentimental Side; I’ve Got My Love To keep Me Warm; I’m Havin’ Myself A Time; Then she really went to town on What A Little Moonlight Can Do, obviously glorying in all the ‘oooh’ sounds which she drew out as long as she dared.  This was the nearest she came to a scat-like sound, though not really scat.  I liked her honest interpretations of the songs, the song came first, but her interpretations were her own.  The concert ended with the encore, Billie Holiday’s own Fine And Mellow, a blues with mellow solos from the trumpet and horns.
A great prelude to the Whitley Bay event.
Ann Alex  

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