Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Thu 04: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 35s only. POSTPONED! New date Jan. 29
Thu 04: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 04: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Globe, Stockton. 7:30pm. Featuring Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall, Sumudu Jayatilaka & Imelda May.
Thu 04: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 04: Organology @ Exchange 1856, North Shields. 8:00pm. £20.50 (inc. bf). Gilad Atzmon, Ross Stanley & Joel Barford!
Thu 04: Alive & Kickin’ @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (piano); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Ron Smith (bass). A Tees Hot Club promotion.

Fri 05: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: Jazzy Xmas @ Redhills, Durham. 7:30-10:00pm. £10.00., £9.00., £8.00. Miners’ Hall, Flass St., Durham. Feat. Durham University Big Band & Durham University Jazz Orchestra.
Fri 05: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 05: Alligator Gumbo @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £16.96. Saltburn Jazz Xmas Party.

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

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, July 24, 2015

CD Review: Mark Winkler - Jazz And Other Four Letter Words

(Review by Ann Alex)
Definitely my CD of the month!  This is the happiest jazz CD I’ve ever heard, swinging, witty lyrics, good musicianship, with piano strongly featured.  Five of the eleven tracks are originals with lyrics by Mark Winkler.  For instance Your Cat Plays Piano (he’s obviously been watching U-tube)‘...mostly on the black keys/ I can swear he’s a jazzer/ ‘cos he will not play the melody.’
Or consider the romantic I Chose The Moon, a love song for his partner of 34 years, ‘cos when the moon shines/ it shines through your eyes’.
The other originals are My Idea Of A Good Time; Stay Hip; Jazz And Other Four Letter Words, and this latter song literally lists the relevant words, such as Bing, coop, dink, Ella, frog, which are also playfully listed on the back inside CD cover.
The other 6 tracks are I’m Hip (a wonderful piece of satire about the state of being hip and made famous by Blossom Dearie. It's sung as a duet here with Man Trans' Cheryl Bentyne); Nice Work if You Can Get It (sung as a slow swing but with great optimism); Paul Simon’s Have A Good Time (with 8 of the musicians in a big band type of arrangement); I Wish I Were In Love Again; I Never Went Away (a surprise inclusion, a jazzy song by classical composer Richard Rodney Bennett); and a short medley of songs about New York.
Mark Winkler hails from Southern California and is a platinum award winner and a producer and educator.  He has had over 200 of his songs recorded or sung by such people as Randy Crawford and Dee Dee Bridgewater, which doesn’t surprise me at all, as he really knows how to write songs.  One of his many CD’s, Jazz And Other Four Letter Words is released on August 1 on Cafe Pacific Records, Catalogue # CPCD45125. (Check it out here).
Ann Alex .   
Mark Winkler (vocals); Cheryl Bentyne (vocals on 2 tracks) Jamieson Trotter (piano, most arrangements); John Clayton (bass); Jeff Hamilton (drums); Mike Shapiro (drums); Dan Lutz (bass); Larry Koonse (Guitar); Pat Kelley (Guitar); Bob Sheppard (tenor sax); Rich Eames (piano, some arrangements); Kirsten Edkins (tenor sax); Bob McChesney (trombone); Walt Fowler (trumpet)
(Collective personnel)
at

1 comment :

ukulele chords said...

I always look forward to his presence. The songs are very I liked.

Sunday, December 13, 2015 11:58:00 am

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive