Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18548 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 412 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 19) 66

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

May

Mon 25: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 26: Noel Dennis Sextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00. A Miles Davis centenary concert (Davis b. 26. 5. 1926). Noel Dennis (trumpet); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums). SOLD OUT!
Tue 26: Lagos to Longbenton @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 27: Neighbourhood Watch + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00. Rivkala (solo).

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Miles Davis & His Favourite Musicians.
Thu 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 28: Bobby Rush @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. + bf. Veteran USA bluesman.
Thu 28: Squabble @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 28: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.

Sat 30: Giles Strong Quartet @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £1.50 bf.

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Monday, June 23, 2014

Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Hoochie Coochie June 22

(Review by Lance/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew.)
Even with a couple of subs coming off the bench (Keith Robinson on alto and Bill Watson, trumpet) this was a stormer and the packed bar loved it. Many familiar faces in the audience, and a pair of shapely legs that I was sure meant that Betty Grable was alive and well! Maybe this miracle meant that Harry James too had been raised from the dead and was in the trumpet section? No, the legs belonged to my favourite auntie (not actually my auntie but somebody's auntie) and Harry wasn't in the horn section either!
They didn't need him - dead or alive! Leader Lamb blew the jazz and directed the moments that needed directing.  Bill Watson, Tom Hill and Gordon Marshall did the bumpering up and did it good - any one of those three could blow lead trumpet anywhere in the world near Middlesbrough. Fantastic guys.
The saxes can just about knack any other sax section anywhere. Gowland, Summers and deputy dog Robinson scored runs, goals and a converted try every time they stood up. Laurie Rangecroft kept the hatches battened down and Jamie Toms, inexplicitly, finished the day on 0 not out (unless he hit a couple of boundaries whilst I was helping the bar staff to dispose of  their stock of London Pride.) Jamie, actually, had had his day - see Russell's Monkey CD review).
However, I digress, music-wise it was a brilliant gig not least because of vocals by James Hedley and the diva's diva - Lindsay Hannon but also because this is such a swinging band. Laid back, cool and relaxed - dig the Kenton arrangement of Long Ago and Far Away. The Nutville tribute to Horace Silver, the amazing St. Louis Blues - was Gowland's tenor solo the best solo ever on this tune?  And, of course, a rhythm section that swung. Basie was once quoted as saying "Four beats to the bar and no cheating."
There was no cheating this afternoon.
Lance.
Michael Lamb, Gordon Marshall, Tom Hill, Bill Watson (tpt); Mark Ferris, John Flood, Kieran Parnaby , Robert Perry (tmb); Steve Summers, Keith Robinson (alt); Paul Gowland, Jamie Toms (ten); Laurie Rangecroft (bar); Pawel Jedrzejewski, (gtr); Marc Jollife (pno), Michael Whent (bs); Guy Swinton (dms); Lindsay Hannon James Hedley (vcls).
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