Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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

Saturday, November 29, 2014

CD Review: Jennie Marie Hammond & The Quiet Band - Lullabies & Dreams..

Jennie Marie Hammond (vcl); Mark Chandler (tpt/flug); Mike Hope (ten); Sean Miller (pno); Richard Hammond (bs); Dom Sales (dms/perc).
(Review by Lance).
A delicate, fey, offering that is totally laid back in the best traditions of Astrud and Blossom.
"I wanted to make a jazz album that could lull my baby girl to sleep." So states drummer, bandleader and founder of the Jellymould Jazz record label, Dom Sales.

An unusual conception that could backfire and put the parents and the kids to sleep! More likely, it will send the adults to put some older, other people's, 'babies' to bed but not necessarily to sleep! It's that kind of disc - a natural follow on to a genre that perhaps began with In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning! It's cool, smoky, sultry, the kind of disc tailor-made for the reflecting, inner soul-searching that comes at the end of an evening that may have been very satisfying or - very frustrating! A nightcap, a fridge raid or maybe a phone call you will regret come the dawn. It's that kind of disc and I love it!
Jennie Marie, says Mike Hope, the Getzian tenor player on the album, is one of the most underrated singers on the planet. Well, whilst that is hardly an underpopulated area of Earth, it is one where Ms Hammond justifiably belongs.
The voice is the one you want to hear late night. The tenor is as cool as the iciest cuba libre, the flugel the plaintive cry in the night, piano bass and drums the reassurance you need at times like this - and the tunes!
Just look at the menu!
Corcavado, When You Wish Upon a Star, Sleeping Bee, Hushabye Mountain, It's Only a Peper Moon, Moonlight in Vermont, Wave, Lullabies & Dreams (original), Stardust, Alice in Wionderland, I See the Moon (honestly!) & White Christmas!
This goes on the car stereo tomorrow - so, if I offer you a lift, beware, I will not hold myself responsible for your actions!
Good job the kids are sound asleep!
Jennie Marie Hammond & The Quiet Band - Lullabies & Dreams is released on December 8 on Jellymouldjazz..
Lance.

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