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

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.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Durham Alumni Big Band & Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. Two big bands on stage together!
Fri 06: Nauta + Littlewood Trio @ Little Buildings, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Double bill + jam session.
Fri 06: FILM: Made in America @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Ornette Coleman.
Fri 06: Deep Six Blues @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.

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

Thursday, April 24, 2014

CD Review: Great Voices of Harlem - Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott, Donald Smith & Paul Zauner's Blue Brass

Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott (vcls); Donald Smith (vcl/pno/Rhodes); Paul Zauner (tmb); Barney Girlinger (tpt/flug); Klaus Dickbauer (alt/bs clt); Klemens Pilem (ten/alt fl); Martin Reiter (pno/Rhodes); Wolfram Derschmidt (bs); Howard Curtis (dms).
(Review by Lance).
The Gregory Porter name on the sleeve should be enough to have the fans scuttling to their nearest Amazon. The discovery that the great man only flies solo on three numbers may halt them in their tracks but it shouldn't. Even if Mr Porter had bought a ticket for Austria, and ended up in Crewe this would still be an important disc  - not least because it brings Mansur Scott and Donald Smith to a wider public.
Scott, 68, raised within a block of Minton's, spent a lot of time in prisons and detention centres and it shows in his singing - he's singing about life, about breaking rocks in prison (Doing Hard Time) and coming to terms with a stroke that left him completely paralysed down one side. You've never heard Stella By Starlight quite like this! You'll want to hear it again.
Smith, brother of renowned jazz/funk/soulster Lonnie Listen Smith, is another hidden Harlem gem - pianist, flautist and uniquely individual singer - My One and Only Love and Watermelon Man break away from  previous versions of these classics. Before the jury go out I think he'll cop for a plea bargain - the plea being originality.
Porter, Greg hadn't yet quite conquered the world when these tracks were recorded (2012) although he'd certainly crossed the Rhine. Superb versions of Moanin', Mona Lisa and Over The Rainbow along with a track where all three handle the vocal give a foretaste of what the world and Hoochie Coochie had in store!. 
The session took place at Stockerau in Austria, produced by trombonist Zauner, who also solos in a most appealing manner as do the other guys. Pilem's tenor brings to mind bygone German sax players such as Klaus Doldinger and Hans Koller (not to be confused with the pianist of the same name). Pilem plays nice flute too.
This one's going to be up there. Gregory on the brink of Greatness, Scott who should have been, and Smith, a truly unique talent. ****¾.
Great Voices of Harlem - Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott, Donald Smith is released on May 22. Distributed in UK by Discovery records.
Lance
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