Bebop Spoken There

Jools Holland (on his 2026 spring/summer tour): ''With the mighty [R&B] Orchestra, our wonderful boogie woogie singers, and the brilliant Joe Webb opening the shows [including Darlington Hippodrome, June 19], we're in for some very special evenings of music.'' The Northern Echo February 5, 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

18263 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 117 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 6), 17

From This Moment On ...

February

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. St Thomas & Bésame Mucho. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Side Cafe Oᴙkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Table reservations: 0191 477 3970.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington.. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00. Dennis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 13: Joe Steels @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 13: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Fri 13: Tom Remon & John Moriarty @ The Ship Isis, Silksworth Row, Sunderland SR1 3QJ. 7:00pm. £10.00 + £1.00 bf.

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

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

CD Review: Tiffany Austin - Nothing But Soul

Tiffany Austin (vcl); Howard Wiley (ten/vcl); Glen Pearson (pno); Ron Belcher (bs); Sly Randolph (dms).
(Review by Lance.)
There are some tunes that make you cringe upon hearing. Not that there's anything wrong with the songs. Summertime is one of the greatest songs ever written but my well documented aversion to the song is not directed at George Gershwin but at the thousands of wannabees  who wouldn't dream of stepping on stage without the feeling that, if  Cry Me a River doesn't get them, then Summertime will!
Familiarity, contempt etc.
Stardust (like the pale moon) is another that no longer excites me, as with Summertime, the definitive versions have been set in stone, or rather vinyl. 
Or so I thought!
Enter Tiffany Austin.
On this, her debut album, she has given a completely new take to Hoagy's classic song. Even the verse is given a new, rhythmic, lease of life. And this is but track one! What follows are more Carmichael gems. Songs either composed by the great man or associated with him. I'm not quite sure how Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line fits in (seemingly Hoagy  cut a 45rpm in '56), but they are all belters with a band that rocks and rolls and swings like the proverbial! Wiley in particular blows up a storm.
This is a difficult disc to review - I mean how can you type when you're dancing around the room?!
Ah, Georgia on my Mind cools things and allows me to to jump down from the ceiling and get back to the keyboard.
Baltimore Oriole; I Get Along Without You Very Well; I May Be Wrong (sung by Hoagy but not one of his comps); Skylark; Sing me a Swing Song are some of the others.
Tiffany Austin is the most exciting singer I've heard since first hearing Cecile McLorin Salvant  at Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party/Festival although, up here in Newcastle, Alice Grace isn't far behind.
There may be better vocal discs this year but there won't be many and certainly not a better first timer!
YouTube.
Released October 16. Con Alma Music CAM 001.
Lance
at

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