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

Saturday, December 20, 2014

CD Review: Vance Thompson's Five Plus Six - Such Sweet Thunder

Vance Thompson, Michael Wyatt, Joe Jordan (tpt/flug); Tylar Bullion, Sean Copeland (tmb); James Mitchell (alt/sop); Greg Tardy (ten bs. clt); David King (bar/sop);  Keith Brown (pno); Taylor Coker (bs); Nolan Nevels (dms).
(Review by Lance).
Reimagining Ellingtonia, Monk and Dolly Parton is the album's subtitle. Well, Hello Dolly, I guess you never quite expected to be moving in such exalted jazz circles! By the same token I think Monk and Duke may have been equally surprised to be alongside Country's most Royal personage!
The heart of Five + Six is Thompson's working quintet - the Marble City Five (in bold above) - augmented  by additional horn players to make for a cracking biggish band ensemble.
Little Sparrow, to be honest, bears little resemblance to Dolly's version although that shouldn't be allowed to detract from what is a cracking track - maybe Dolly has yet to hear it?
Ellington is represented by Strayhorn's Isfahan, their collaboration on the title track Such Sweet Thunder and Duke's Prelude to a Kiss and Rockin' in Rhythm. Monk kicks in with Pannonica, Ugly Beauty and Four in One whilst He's Gone Away is based on a traditional Appalachian folk tune and dedicated to the late great bassist Charlie Haden. It is as poignant as Goodbye Pork Pie Hat was when recorded by another bass player nearly sixty years ago. Keith Brown - son of Donald - arranged Prelude and, with a bit of help from dad, Four in One. Thompson charted the rest as well as blowing fine trumpet and flugel.
Brown proves himself to be a worthy son of an illustrious father and Tardy's tenor is not tardy but very much Tardy! (I just love these wordisms!) 
Prelude, not surprisingly, is quite an adventurous arrangement yet does not lose the impact of the original. It's one of those tunes where you think, "I could have composed that" but, of course, you didn't - you missed out - just like you did on Happy Birthday and White Christmas!
If you're emotional, have the tissues on standby for He's Gone Now.
A beautiful CD available on Shade Street Records on January 6, 2015.. 
Lance.
Live version of Rockin' in Rhythm.
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