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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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.br/> Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Monday, June 29, 2015

Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Globe Jazz Bar, Newcastle - June 28


Peter Wright (tpt); Lawrence McBriarty (tmb); Paul Gowland (ten); Brian Bennett (bjo/vcl); Dave Percy (bs gtr); Fred Thompson (dms/vcl).
(Review by Lance).
A bass guitar with the Vieux Carré Jazzmen?! Shock horror! - Peter Duker (AKA Deuchar), Gassy and Ronnie Robinson must be turning in their graves! However, in the 60 years that have elapsed since the VCJ first introduced New Orleans to Newcastle attitudes have changed. Washboards are out, drums are in. Likewise, the idea of the VCJ with tenor sax as opposed to a clarinet in the front-line would also have been unthinkable to the band's purist founders.
Tempus fugit and the current line-up is probably as good as any of its previous incarnations, not least because of Gowland's tenor.
Modernist Paul easily adapts to the idiom giving the band a more mainstream sound. Wright and McBriarty add their own distinctive voices atop of the pulsating banjo driven rhythm and the end result is about as good as it gets this side of 1940s Condon.
Leader Bennett banjoed, compered and sung although most of the vocal chores were handled by drummer Thompson.
Numbers included Cielito Lindo (AKA You, Me and Us); James P. Johnson's If I Could be With You; Am I Blue; Hiawatha; Milenberg Joys; Honeysuckle Rose; Bye Bye Blues and a host more. 
An entertaining evening that was made even sweeter by winning a bottle of Chardonnay in the raffle. 
Although some expected faces were missing from the audience it was encouraging to see some new faces.
And if you've yet to visit the home of the Jazz Coop, don't take the A train, choose the number 22 bus (18/38/58 minutes past) from Central Station.
Lance.
Photos.

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