Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Monday, June 16, 2014

Debra Milne's Summer Latin Jazz @ Hoochie Coochie June 15


Debra Milne (vcl); Steve Summers (saxes/perc); Alan Law (pno); Steve Glendinning (gtr); Paul Grainger (bs); Tim Johnston (dms) + Paola Torres (vcl).
(Review by Lance).
The big screen back of the stage wasn't showing football which perhaps explains why Newcastle's Swiss and Ecuadorian population were absent although the room was not without an international presence of which more later.
I settled in my favourite seat with a glass of London Pride - described in the Hoochie Drinks Manual as A favourite with Jazz Critics! and prepared to enjoy an afternoon of Summer Latin Jazz.
And enjoy it I did - the Gnomes of Zurich will never know what they missed!
Debra had chosen wisely for this expanded ensemble and it would be difficult to field a better side. Maybe it was the World Cup coverage that had infused the feeling but the casual passer by would have sworn that these guys were natives of Brazil as they dealt out the bossa, samba, rumba rhythms etc behind Senorita Milne who looked the part in a multi-coloured, backless frock with an orchid in her hair - olay!
The material was, by and large, not part of Debra's regular set list but, apart from the occasional glitch, you'd never have guessed it. The unison voice, sax and guitar passages on Spain were astounding! Portugul too was represented in the form of one Paolo Torres who sang in Portuguese what translated as This Girl is so Different. Paolo, a long-time north east resident who speaks better English than I do Portuguese, deserved more than one song - look forward to hearing him again sometime.
I don't think I've heard Debra in better voice, the two Steve's scintillated, not surprisingly Alan Law impressed - his presence is not unknown in local Latin circles - whilst Grainger and Johnston (without an e) kept it all together.
Note to Debra - must do this again soon!
Lance. 
Footnote: Reading Elmore Leonard's Killshot as I rode the number 27 I noted one of the characters making reference to "Going downtown to hear Lonnie Liston Smith at the Pontchartrain Hotel." Well folks, if you want to hear Lonnie Liston Smith you needn't travel to Detroit - he's appearing at Hoochie on June 26 and it's only a tenner!

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