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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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

Sunday, October 04, 2015

CD Review: Kansas Smitty's House Band - Kansas Smitty's ****.


(Review by Lance).
Where have all the swingers gone? Trad/New Orleans/Dixieland bands abound as do  hard bop to contemporary combos. But where are those in between bands - the bands that swing without sounding as if the drummer has a clubfoot or, at the other extreme, three feet and five hands?
I'm talking mainstream.
Locally, the Esquire Jazzmen make a decent fist of it and occasionally the Maine St. Jazzmen move over from their Dixieland base but, by and large, the middle ground has become somewhat barren. Admittedly we have several big bands and Django style outfits who do the Swing Shifts but missing are the small bands playing in the style of such bands as those led by Humph, Bruce Turner, Kenny Baker and Harry Hayes in the UK or the likes of Red Allen and Buck Clayton in The States. Sadly, all of these names are now in the obituary columns although, in the case of Buck Clayton, are not entirely forgotten in the form of the Buck Clayton Legacy Band led by Alyn Shipton and Matthias Seuffert who play Sage Gateshead on October 30. Seuffert is also, as always, one of the core performers at this year's Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party - a weekend where, for three days, I will have no cause for complaint at the lack of swing.
Perhaps, one day, Kansas Smitty's House Band will make its way north - I hope so.
Pete Horsfall, we recall from the Basin Street Brawlers, and here his driving trumpet lead also kicks Smitty's House Band along.
Warm Embrace, co-written by Smitty and Fox sounds like it was a number from one of those songwriting teams that abounded in the '30s - beautiful! And yet all the tracks are originals - only Cross, Webb, Ireland and Edwards don't get their name on the scoresheet.
The blurb describes the album as "a crafted blend of Kansas City jazz, New Orleans funk, trad and swing, with a touch of avant-garde/improv." Don't let these last two genres put you off. This is avant-garde as it was in the 1930s/'40s. Close your eyes and it could be John Kirby/Raymond Scott.Kansas City 7 or an Ellington small group time-lifted to today.
Highly recommended for "them as likes their music on the jumping side" - amazingly I picked up that quote from a Glenn Miller broadcast and it's even more appropriate here!
Kansas Smitty's House Band have their own bar  in East London's at 63 - 65 Broadway Market, E8 4PH. Next time I'm in the Capital I'll be making a beeline - if I don't then maybe they'll come up to Newcastle to play the Jazz Coop's jazz bar at the Globe or the Jazz Café!
The album is available as a download (£8.99); CD (£10); Vinyl (£15.) from Kansas Smitty's official store.
Lance.
Pete Horsfall (tpt/vcls); Giacomo Smith (alt/clt); Ruben Fox (ten); Theon Cross (tuba/tmb); Joe Webb (pno); Dave Archer (gtr); Ferg Ireland (bs); Pedro Segundo (dms) + Leonie Evans (vcl); Brian Edwards (ten).

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