Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18429 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 13 ) 27,

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

From This Moment On

April

Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 17: Ben Crosland Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £12.96 (inc. bf) online; £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.

Sat 18: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Swing dance sessions + Bright Street Big Band 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm.
Sat 18: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm. £27.00 (inc. bf).

Sun 19: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Trio + Lara Hopper.
Sun 19: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 19: Straight to Tape @ The Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Edd Carr, Jonathan Proud, John Hirst. Blues trio.
Sun 19: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.

Mon 20: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Tue 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. Tel: 0191 237 3697. Tickets: £14.00. ‘Pie & Pea Lunch’.
Tue 21: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £29.00., £26.00., £23.00.
Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels (guitar); Paul Grainger (double bass); Jack Littlewood (drums).

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Nubiyan Twist @ Digital, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £28.75 (inc. bf).
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 7:30pm. Date, time & admission TBC.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Monday, January 18, 2016

Alice Grace Quintet @ Hoochie Coochie - Jan. 17


Alice Grace (vcl); Paul Gowland (ten/alt/sop); Pete Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Russ Morgan (dms).
(Review by Lance).
The outstanding moment for me in the Danny Kaye, Bing Crosby remake of Holiday Inn - White Christmas - wasn't Bingo singing the title song, or even the delightful and amusing Sisters sung by Vera Ellen and Rosemary Clooney. No, for me, it was George's auntie's heartfelt crooning of the Irving Berlin number Love You Didn't Do Right By Me.
The years rolled by and I never heard the song again - apart from every Boxing Day or thereabouts!
Until tonight!
Tonight, Alice raised Auntie Rose's seemingly unpassable bar up to an even higher level!
This was 'the biz'!
Berlin had also provided the opener - an uptempo blast on Blue Skies and it just went on from there.
Alice sang and scatted and vocalesed (remind me what the difference is?)
She swung and swang, Paul Gowland swang and swung on saxophones galore. Gilligan was, simply, Gilligan - how many pianists just wish they were "Simply, Gilligan?"
Paul Grainger, his blossoming beard  has a long way to go before it rivals the late Crombie's facial adornment  - his bass playing makes up for it. In particular the fours twixt voice and bass that were just some of the highlights.
Russ, he was brill . Not just solos but, as sympathetic a player as you'll find behind any parradiddle.
A choice selection of the old and not so old. The familiar and not so familiar.
Blue Skies; Until You Come Back to Me (S.Wonder); Secret Love; Nardis (Mile's tribute to Ben Sidran as lyricised by Sarah Elizabeth Charles); What is This Thing Called Love?; Invitation; If I Knew Now; Love You Didn't Do Right By Me;  Everybody's Song (Kenny Wheeler); Learnin' the Blues; God Bless the Child; Brenda Russell's It's a Jazz Day; Just in Time; You Don't Know What Love is; On the Street Where you Live and, for an encore, The Sky is There.
The sky certainly was there. This may not have been Berkeley Square although there definitely was magic abroad in the air and a nightingale did sing...
Photos.
Lance.

2 comments :

John Pope (on F/b) said...

'Vocalise' usually refers to putting lyrics to a learned instrumental solo. Kurt Elling does it fabulously with a Charlie Haden solo on his recording of Moonlight Serenade.

Just in case you were serious.

Lance said...

Thanks John. This and many other jazz questions are answered in a soon to be published book by Dave Gelly - '30-Second Jazz'. Review coming up shortly.

Blog Archive