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

18122 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1086 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Dec. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 07: FILM: Blue Moon @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Dir. Richard Linklater’s biopic of Lorenz Hart.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 08: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones of 1976.

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

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.

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

Wednesday, November 04, 2015

EP review: Simon Taylor & the Sundowners - New York City Girl

Ivel Goverda (vcl); Simon Taylor (gtr/vcl); Paul Taylor (pno); Jamie Shield or Ian Paterson (bs); Jon Forster (dms 5 tks); Simon Coleman (dms 1 tk/perc); Eddie Bellis (tmb 2 tks); Rosie Bristow (acc 1 tk).
What an absolutely delightful vignette! Not quite jazz, not quite rock/funk but a winding and intriguing path between those genres.
Taylor's and Goverda's vocals bounce off each other it's a mini jazz/rock opera but let the participants tell the story.
The title track celebrates a Holly Golightly-ish socialite who embodies the style of the Big Apple in a swing jazz setting. Hollywood Smile is an early hours romp through a blurred cityscape with a glamorous accomplice in tow. Les Rues de Paris delivers a melancholic waltz through the sights of Paris whilst EP closer Adieu offers a cheery send-off to a roguish ex-beau. As a bonus the Sundowners single Hot Love/Crazy are tagged on. 
The titles themselves I'm sure could trigger off a hundred short stories, even a couple of novels! It's wonderfully laid back but so emotive. A slight country feel but not enough to become allergic to. I found myself growing to it with repeated listenings. The lyrics have the feel of Billy Joel, Joni Mitchell.
Brother Paul on piano indicates just how wide his musical landscape is. He's at the Bridge on Sunday with Long Lonesome Go which will be different.
Check them both out.
Simon Taylor and the Sundowners' CD - New York City Girl (my album title of the year) will be launched on Friday December 4 at the Miner's Institute next to the Lit and Phil. They will be supported by Alter Cosmos, who fuse elements of trip hop, Catalan folk and acid jazz, alongside the much lauded singer-songwriter Lesley Roley.
Lance
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