Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
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: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: Homer’s Lane + John Garner & John Pope @ St John’s Church, Riding Mill. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. Gabriele Heller’s audio play + Garner & Pope.
Sat 17: Martyn Roper @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. Roper’s ‘One Man Blues Band’.
Sat 17: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Alexia Gardner Trio @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). Gardner, Alan Law & Jude Murphy.

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, October 16, 2015

CD Review: Nancy Lane - Let Me Love You

Nancy Lane (vocals); Kenny Bibace (guitar); Lara Driscoll (piano); Aron Doyle (trumpet, flugelhorn); Francois D’Amours (tenor sax); Mike De Masi (bass); Dave Laing (drums)
(Review by Ann Alex).
Now wouldn’t you suppose that What Is This Thing Called Love? would be sung slowly to convey the sadness of lost love?  Not a bit of it on this CD.  Nancy Lane gives us the song in short fast phrases, sung to a pattering bass, slowing down only for the last few bars to bring out the full meaning, and it works wonderfully, like so much on this totally enjoyable disc.  I hope we’ll hear more of this lady in the future. 
The CD includes mostly jazz standards, some not so well known, and a slinky, seductive Tout Ce Que Veut Lola, (Whatever Lola Wants) sung in French, with accompaniment including a suitably muted trumpet.  The voice is sultry, husky and warm, and the musicians are well up to their job, although solos tend to last for just one chorus as the disc is meant to be singer-orientated.
Every Time I’m With You is one of those delightful ‘list’ songs, a list of the ways she feels with her lover, eg ‘I’m a camel that wants a big drink’.  You couldn’t make it up, except that a clever lyricist did.  Similarly, in You Took Advantage Of Me: ‘lock the doors and call me yours’ (from the brilliant Lorenz Hart).  Other songs are: Let Me Love You; I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me (a lovely intimate interpretation, including the verse); We’re Together; Cry Me A River; Everything I’ve Got Belongs To You; All Of You. And all rounded off effectively with a slow, sad, sincerely sung ballad Just Say I Love Him.
Nancy Lane hails from Montreal and she comes from a musical background: her grandmother sang opera, an aunt sang jazz and her father played saxophone.  She has taken part in various recording projects previously and this is her debut album.  The CD is self-released on October 23: see nancylanemusic.com 
Ann Alex

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