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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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

Friday, January 16, 2015

Pilgrim Street Set @ Hoochie Coochie. January 14

Richard Burns (trumpet), Gary Turner (tenor), Paul Edis (keyboards), Paul Susans (bass) & Rob Walker (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Mid January, credit card max-out, blowing a gale, raining – every excuse/reason not to get out to a gig. Hoochie Coochie, one of Newcastle’s classier music venues, was open for business. A few turned-out to hear the ‘house band’, five of the north east’s busiest and best musicians calling themselves the ‘Pilgrim Street Set’.
Main Man Paul Susans absented himself from the opening number – a dodgy bass amp               necessitated a dash across town to pick up a spare – leaving the other ‘Main Man’, Rob Walker, to get the funking thing going. And this is one funking great band! Mid tune (a Paul Edis number titled We All Get Along) Main Man Susans returned, shuffled-off his winter coat, tracing some funking dance steps as he did so to orchestrated cheers (front man Richard Burns had set us up!), plugged in and was instantly in the groove!
The Main Men of the band – Sly and Robbie/Susans and Walker – are funk merchants par excellence. Susans (sporting a winter beard) probably didn’t miss a beat during his short absence (it’s as if he’s wired-in) and Walker probably hasn’t missed one funking  beat in his life! Some of the band’s material comes from seemingly unlikely sources. A bop number or two, yes, then Art Pepper, Ornette Coleman and Gong! Gong? The PSS (Pilgrim Street Set) can turn anything into a groove. Out front Richard Burns plays free Miles (and muted Miles, and some focused Burns’ trumpet playing). Alongside Aussie Burns is the PSS’s secret weapon. Gary Turner (tenor) lurks in the shadows, avoiding a Hoochie Coochie spotlight whenever possible. When called upon he steps up, tenor sax locked-on to a mic. Turner thinks a solo, the listener can almost hear him thinking. The noise is awesome, blowing away any wannabees in the audience (back to the woodshed).
This is a band full of Main Men. Susans and Walker, Burns and Turner. Then there is a fifth Main Man…Dr Paul Edis. Funking Horace Silver of course and some swinging jazz piano (Susans and Walker ever willing). The PSS are in residence third Thursday in the month. Date for your diary – Hoochie Coochie, February 19. What’s your excuse?          
Russell.                 

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