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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 2025).

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

17822(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 143 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (Feb.25).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. THIS WEEK ONLY JAMES BIRKETT (guitar)!
Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

MARCH 2025

Sat 01: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £15.00. Day 2/3.
Sat 01: TJ Johnson Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Get your funk on! Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ The Watch House, Cullercoats. 2:00-3:30pm. Free.
Sat 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 5:15pm or 5:45pm (times tbc). Part of the Alnwick Story Festival's music fringe programme: Free.
Sat 01: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Blues band.
Sat 01: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Joseph O’Brien: The Ultimate Tribute to Frank Sinatra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. O’Brien & seven piece band (inc. Wendy Kirkland, Jim Corry & Pat Sprakes).
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Jack & Jay’s Vintage Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 02: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £10.00. Day 3/3.
Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: Side Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Derwentwater Road, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Milne Glendinning Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 6:30pm.
Sun 02: Bella by Barlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 02: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Spittal Bowling Club, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Ali Watson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 03: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. £8.00. ‘Jazz ‘n’ Pancakes’.
Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 04: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Jazz Music of Quincy Jones.
Thu 06: BBC Big Band @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. £32.00., £25.00., £16.00. ‘The Sound of Cinema’ featuring Emer McPartland (vocals).
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 06: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Dan Johnson (sax); Josh Bentham (sax); Gary Hadfield (keys); Adrian Beadnell (bass). A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

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

Friday, November 07, 2014

Today @ Classic Jazz Party

I've got an absolutely gorgeous weekend ahead  at the Village Hotel, Cobalt Business Park, nr Shiremoor, North Tyneside - never mind the weather - it's the (late) Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party organised this year by Patti Durham with the able assistance of Keith Nichols, Frans Sjöström and several others.
It's a mouthwatering feast for lovers of classic jazz as today's program will testify to.
12 noon – 12.30pmTribute to Mike.
Spats Langham leads a re-creation of his Rhythm Boys – a group lovingly crafted by Mike Durham, complementary to his beloved West Jesmond Rhythm Kings. This music and song – indeed the entire Jazz Party – is a fitting tribute to all that Mike achieved for Classic Jazz over many decades. Enrico Tomasso (trumpet); Graham Hughes (trombone); Matthias Seuffert (reeds); Keith Nichols (piano); Spats Langham (Banjo, guitar, vocal); John Hallam (bass); Frans Sjöström (bass saxophone); Josh Duffee (drums).


12.30pm – 1.30pm: What Bix could have played.
Biographies of Bix Beiderbecke list many tunes he played in clubs, concerts and on broadcasts – most of which he never recorded. David Boeddinghaus leads a session which explores and performs for you some of this lost repertoire. Andy Schumm  (cornet); Kris Kompen (trombone); Mauro Porro (reeds); David Boeddinghaus (piano); Frans Sjöström (bass saxophone) Josh Duffee (drums).
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1.30pm – 2.30pmAmericans in Paris.
Paris consistently had a high population of visiting U.S. performers in the 1920s and 1930s, while we in the U.K. missed out on hearing most of them, especially in the later years. Martin Litton directs a showcase of what you might have heard in Paris in those heady, carefree times. Enrico Tomasso, Duke Heitger,       Bent Persson (trumpets); Alistair Allan (trombone); Matthias Seuffert, Thomas Winteler (reeds); Emma Fisk (violin); Martin Litton (piano); Spats Langham (guitar); Henry Lemaire (bass); Richard Pite (drums). Janice Day, vocal.
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2.30pm – 3.00pm: A Challenge to Louis.
Very early on, some trumpet players actually tried to ‘out-blow’ the great Louis Armstrong! Soon however, others became inspired by his vast talent – which often brought fascinating results. With introductions by Keith Nichols,  Menno Daams and Bent Persson will illustrate several of these ‘challenges’.  Menno Daams, Bent Persson  (trumpets); Graham Hughes (trombone); Mauro Porro (reeds); Morten Gunnar Larsen (piano); Henry Lemaire (banjo, guitar); Malcolm Sked (bass, brass bass); Nicholas Ball (drums).
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3.00pm – 3.30pmThe New York Gang.
Musicians who could sight-read music yet also play ‘Hot’ were in great demand in the recording studios of New York. Frans introduces this session commemorating some of them, including, naturally, his own hero, Adrian Rollini. Duke Heitger (trumpet); Kris Kompen (trombone); Lars Frank (reeds); Morton Gunnar Larsen (piano); Jacob Ullberger (banjo, guitar); Frans Sjöström (bass saxophone); Nicholas Ball (drums).
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3.30pm – 4.00pmSpats’ Little Mystery Band.
Don’t worry: the Mystery here will be swiftly resolved (split infinitive or not), and will provide you with thirty minutes of delectable ‘chamber jazz’ by Spats and his colleagues. Spats Langham (banjo, guitar, vocals); Lars Frank (reeds); Morton Gunnar Larsen (piano); Phil Rutherford (brass bass); Josh Duffee (drums).
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4.00pm – 5.00pmPaul Whiteman – King of Jazz.
One of Mike Durham’s many great achievements was to present, at the prestigious Sage venue in 2006, a full-scale Paul Whiteman Tribute concert. An audience of over 1,000 heard original Whiteman scores, meticulously transcribed and edited by Keith Nichols. This afternoon, enjoy the same airy vistas of symphonic jazz! Keith Nichols conducts and directs: Enrico Tomasso, Menno Daams, Andy Schumm (trumpets); Kris Kompen, Alistair Allan, Graham Hughes (trombones); Matthias Seuffert, Jean-François Bonnel, Lars Frank, Claus Jacobi, Mauro Porro (reeds); Emma Fisk, Dawn Allen, Jessica Graham (violins); David Boeddinghaus  (piano); Martin Wheatley (banjo, guitar); Malcolm Sked (bass) Phil Rutherford (brass bass); Frans Sjöström (bass saxophone); Josh Duffee (drums, percussion). Spats Langham, vocal.
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DINNER
7.30pm – 8.00pmThe Professor – Martin Litton.
You may not know this, but Martin does The Times crossword every day. In a more advanced way than the relationships of letters and words, he creates jazz piano of many kinds, each of which is possessed of impeccable musical structure, lucidity, and swing.
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8.00pm – 9.00pmHarlem Nightlife.
Fresh from his Paul Whiteman triumph, Keith takes us on a musical visit to North Manhattan IslandNew York, where since the 1920s  Harlem has been the hub of African American cultural and musical life.
Menno Daams, Bent Persson (trumpets); Kris Kompen (trombone); Jean-François Bonnel, Lars Frank, Claus Jacobi (reeds); Keith Nichols (piano); Spats Langham (guitar, banjo); Phil Rutherford (brass bass); Josh Duffee (drums). Janice Day, vocal.
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9.00pm – 9.30pmAll the Helens.
There a number of distinguished swing and jazz singers who share the name Helen. Although not called Helen herself, you will certainly enjoy this tribute to their illustrious careers thanks to the lovely voice of Janice Day complemented by the versatile piano of Martin Litton. Also backing Janice are Thomas Winteler (reeds); Martin Wheatley (guitar, banjo) , Malcolm Sked (bass, brass bass) and Nicholas Ball (drums).
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9.30pm – 10.00pmThe Poolshark.
If music failed to provide an income for Jelly-Roll Morton in his early days, he called upon his great abilities as a pool player. First losing on purpose, he would then take his opponents for a ride! Bent has made a selection of seldom-heard later 1930s Morton recordings. Bent Persson (trumpet); Graham Hughes (trombone); Jean-François Bonnel, Thomas Winteler (reeds); Morten Gunnar Larsen (piano); Jacob Ullberger (banjo, guitar); Henry Lemaire (bass); Nicholas Ball (drums).
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10.00pm – 11.00pmThe Nichols – Duffee All Star Orchestra.
This splendid line up will play a wide variety of special arrangements or transcriptions by Keith and Josh. Mostly of 1920s repertoire, some were made for CD projects, and have never been performed ‘live’ before! Items by McKinney’s Cotton Pickers, Frank Trumbauer and Fletcher Henderson may be included. Enrico Tomasso, Duke Heitger, Andy Schumm (trumpets); Kris Kompen, Alistair Allan (trombones); Matthias Seuffert, Jean-François Bonnel, Lars Frank, Claus Jacobi (reeds); Keith Nichols (piano); Spats Langham (banjo, guitar); Malcolm Sked (bass, brass bass); Josh Duffee (drums).
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11.00pm – ????: Victory Pub Jam.
Hot-foot from the Nichols-Duffee session, Andy Schumm directs the first of the free-blowing jam sessions which have become an indispensable tradition of the Jazz Party. Andy Schumm (Trumpet); Graham Hughes (trombone); Matthias Seuffert (reeds); Martin Litton (piano); Jacob Ullberger (banjo, guitar); Frans Sjöström (bass saxophone); Nicholas Ball (drums).
Lance.

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