Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Nubiyan Twist @ Digital, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £28.75 (inc. bf).
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 7:30pm. Date, time & admission TBC.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).
Fri 24: TBC @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Customs House Big Band @ (wait for it) The Customs House, South Shields. March 21.

Michael Lamb, Darren Owen, Gordon Marshall, Ken DeVere (tpts); Gareth Weaver, Chris Gurgi-Smith, Michael Fletcher (tmb); Peter Morgan (bs. tmb/MD); Alan Marshall (alt/sop/clt/fl), Kim Webb (alt/clt), Richie Emmerson (ten), Peter Hepplewhite (ten); Sue Ferris (bar); Gavin Smith (pno); Roy Willis (gtr); Alan Smith (bs); Barry Black (dms); Ruth Lambert (vcl).
Quite a few deps and unfamiliar faces tonight. Long time since I heard Barry Black - still a very fine drummer. Richie Emmerson blew excellent tenor whilst regular tenor player Alan Marshall proved equally adept on alto. Michael Lamb, moonlighting from the Strictly Smokin' Big Band took care of the jazz trumpet pad. Ruth was, quite simply, Ruth. Just as Ella was 'Ella' and Billie was 'Billie'.
Because of the influx of 'foreigners' (sounds like the UKIP manifesto) the band wasn't, perhaps, as tight as normal but quite often a degree of looseness helps a band to swing more and there were no complaints on that score - how could there be with Barry behind the kit?
Love For Sale kicked things off - tell me, is there a big band that doesn't have the classic Buddy Rich version in the pad? Later, we had Buddy's West Side Story Medley. Gordon Goodwin was in there but no Sammy Nestico. A couple of Bob Florence's - Carmelo's By the Freeway being particularly outstanding. Maybe one day they'll pick up on Flo's Trash Can City.
Bill Brittain - I don't know if that is the correct spelling, I should have asked him as he was sitting in the row behind me - has now retired. His replacement, Gavin Smith (if your name is Smith or Marshall you stand a fair chance of getting on this band), featured on Don't Get Around Much Any More.
Ruth sang  Come Fly With Me, Over the Rainbow (inc. verse), Embraceable You, I Get a Kick Out of You, Teach Me Tonight, Lady is a Tramp, At Last, Get Happy and, for an encore, Mack the Knife.
During the interval I high-tailed over to the Steamboat for a pint and a few words with a girl named Sue and Richie Emmerson.
The Way You Look Tonight, which opened the second set, was one of the numbers that reminded me of the close attention this band gives to detail and dynamics.
Don't wait till May to catch them in Spennymoor - see the postscript below.
A lift home from Miles (Watson) rounded off a perfect evening. Thank you Miles.
Lance.
PS: Big band fans, you can hear the CHBB for free at an open rehearsal on the first Tuesday of each month at the New Crown Hotel, Mowbray Rd., South Shields. As I say, it's free and kicks off about 7.30pm.
This Sunday at Hoochie Coochie the Strictly Smokin' Big Band ignite at 5pm and, earlier, at the Park Inn, Hartlepool, the Musicians Unlimited Big Band preach the gospel - doors 12 noon.
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