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.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

"Ned Kelly's Hot Shots" @ The Millstone, South Gosforth.

Colin Aitchison (tpt/vcl); Franco Valussi (clt); Barry Soulsby (clt/alt/vcl); Laurence McBriarty (tmb); Brian Bennett (bjo/vcl); Bill Colledge (bs); Fred Thompson (dms).
(Review by Lance/photos by Jeannie Aitchison).
With the majority of the band sporting Ned Kelly * tee shirts, the Vieux Carré Jazzmen became, for this week only, "Ned Kelly's Hot Shots". And "Hot Shots" they were with Valussi and Aitchison (AKA "Our Man in Hong Kong") leading the line. Italian born Valussi, resident in Hong Kong since 1995, spent much of his early working life as a successful cartoonist before 'kicking old Buddah's Gong" and settling in Hong Kong. Regrettably we didn't get to hear his tenor playing on this trip but his clarinet playing proved him to be a top class stylist with more than a hint of BG in his solos.
Colin, whom I've known for many many years, is playing superbly in the dixie/swing style so beloved of his late dad. The phrasing, the ideas, are reminiscent of Hughie's but the tone is bolder and brassier - a good place to be for a horn man. He sings, he swings, he puts on a show.
Not that this was a one man show - far from it. Barry Soulsby fluctuated between clarinet and alto and had a memorable duo blast with Franco on The Loveliest Night of the Year as well as exercising his vocal chops on standards such as Sweet Lorraine. The minute pause during the line "She's got a pair of ... eyes" was magical albeit probably unnoticed by most! 
Laurence Mac was on tailgate, filling in all the spaces, opening a few doors, telling the truth.
Bennett kept the chug factor high - so essential whether on Bourbon Street or Haddricks Mill Road on a Thursday afternoon, Colledge was basically sound and Fred Thompson kept it all together - even when singing At The Jazz Band Ball.
This band may never get a Jazz Services funded touring grant - the packed room will be pleased to know - and as long as they keep packing them in...
Lance.
* Aitchison and Valussi are resident at Ned Kelly's Last Stand in Kowloon.

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