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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Bellavana @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30-10:00pm. Free. A Late Shows event.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ 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

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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