Total Pageviews

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, May 15, 2015

R.I.P. BB King

BB King died yesterday (May 14) in Las Vegas - he was 89.
Guitarist, singer, icon, BB was one of the few who crossed the genres and was loved by all. Primarily a bluesman, he also moved in rock and roll circles as well as being not unknown amongst the jazz fraternity.
I saw him live at the North Sea Jazz Festival at the Hague back in the 1980s but my biggest memory was at the same festival when I didn't see him but most certainly heard him.
It was a hot July day and BB was performing inside a marque. All tickets were sold but, by sitting on a grassy knoll outside (a bit like Henman Hill or Murray Mound at Wimbledon), the sound came across loud and clear. A glass of bessenjenever (a Dutch blackcurrent gin), a plate of Maatjesharing (pickled raw herring) and the greatest blues singing of the later 20th century was as near to Shangri-la as I've known.
May he Rest In Peace.
Lance.
(Photo courtesy of Andy Hudson - see comments - taken at Capital Jazz Festival)

2 comments :

Andy Hudson said...

Very sad ref BB King- One of the last of the legends that I had the privilege of working with in the 70s and 80s. He was always the perfect gentleman and an efficient ultimate artiste, non-fussy , non-demanding , no whinges about riders or any such nonsense.

He just hit the stage with his trusty “Lucille” and played and sang (Lucille of course being the guitar –for aficionados was originally a Gibson L-30 – This morphed over time so that Gibson eventually produced their own “Lucille” model for general release).

When I left the North East in 79, after producing that Middlesbrough Jazz event at Ayresome Park, He was a headliner in the first Alexandra Palace Jazz Festival along with Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Hampton, Dizzy and many more. He continued to be a regular in our festivals into the 90s. Always a joy to work with, watch and listen to. Will be much missed

Maurice Summerfield said...

In his autobiography B.B. King talks about his favourite guitarists and says - for example 'Id listen to records by Barney Kessel, the great jazz guitarist who played at many Jazz at the Philharmonic concerts, and my jaw would drop. I was awe struck by the structure of his ad-libs. He had the gift of being complicated and simple at the same time. His amplified voice on guitar had a calm beauty that felt like poetry. I followed Barney Kessel's musical stories like a kid following a fairy-tale.

Blog Archive