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

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Stedman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

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.

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

Monday, July 14, 2014

CD Review: Pulcinella – Bestiole

Ferdinand Doumerc (saxophones, flute & metallophone), Florian Demonsant (accordion, kaval), Jean-Marc Serpin (double bass & metallophone) & Frédéric Cavallin (drums, metallophone & glockenspiel) + Patrick Vaillant (mandolin) & Daniel Casimir (trombone).
(Review by Russell).
Pulcinella are based in Toulouse, France. On the road the band comprises four musicians, on Bestiole there is the addition of two musicians (Patrck Vaillant – mandolin and Daniel Casimir – trombone). The CD, Pulcinella’s third, is an eleven track journey across such a diverse musical landscape it is difficult to categorise.
The core quartet’s playing credits encompass blues, flamenco, funk, gypsy jazz, hip-hop, jazz funk, rhythm and blues, salsa and tango. The use of metallophone (glockenspiel, vibes) is shared between bandleader Ferdinand Doumerc, bassist  Jean-Marc Serpin and drummer Frédéric Cavallin. Florian Desmonsant plays accordion (the rather obvious Gallic component) and kaval (flute). Serpin’s double bass is straight out of the jazz idiom and Cavallin’s drumming is highly accomplished (track four Sur le pave la lune is a particularly good example of it). Tu parles trop (track eight) is brief, taut, not unlike John Zorn.
La Tarentelle invites fevered Balkan dancing. Forceful rhythms buoy Doumerc’s manic tenor as Demonsant’s accordion jibbers and jabbers, the insatiable party animal. Bestiole concludes with an atypical piece. Envoûtement is a reflective composition. The slow, if not funereal, tempo, skips around a glockenspiel-mandolin nursery rhyme punctuated by Casimir’s sonorous trombone.
Pulcinella are on tour. Their first British date is on July 15 at the Jazz Café, Newcastle. They share a double bill with Troyka. The Match & Fuse circus pitches up in Cardiff (16) and Coventry (17) before the Gallic Four meet up with Brass Mask in London on July 18. Bestiole awaits a release date. Get along to one (or more!) of the gigs and ask the band about its availability. 
Visit: www.pulcinellamusic.com. http://www.matchandfuse.co.uk/
Russell.
PS: Available via digital download.
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