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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sat 14: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners @ Northumberland Miners’ Picnic, Woodhorn Museum, Ashington. 10:00am-5:00pm. Free. At intervals during the day.
Sat 14: Spanish City Rollers @ The Brae, Cullercoats. 11:00am & 1:00pm. Free. A Cullercoats Festival event.
Sat 14: Front Porch Three + Hoodoo Blues swing dance workshop @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 3:30pm. A Cullercoats Festival event.
Sat 14: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 4:15-5:30pm.
Sat 14: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 14: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 14: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 14: Eva Fox & Steve Chambers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free..
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00..
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’..
Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. .
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

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

Saturday, January 30, 2016

CD Review: Great American Music Ensemble - It's All in the Game

(Review by Lance).  
Most of my contemporaries would have shied away when they noted that In the Mood was the opening track! If it had sailed under previous titles such as Tar Paper Stomp or Hot and Anxious they may have been more welcoming - such is jazz snobbery!
Not me! When, as a callow youth, I received my first pay packet, I cycled along to our local record shop and plonked down a couple of bob (shillings) for Glenn Miller's [in]famous version of the tune. As such, it still has a place in my heart and, on my 78rpm shelf.
This version bares no resemblance to the original and is none the worse for that!
 A punchy American big band that takes standards and injects new life into them.
The guests play their part. Jon Faddis is in incredible form - West End Blues = Louis Armstrong Meets Dizzy Gillespie meets Maynard meets Cat! He does a rather special workout on Stardust too. Memories of Jon at Durham's Brass Festival.
Rene Marie has one of those voices that exude intimacy, the suggestion that she's in love with you!
Joe Kennedy Jr swings like Stephane and the band swings like Basie.
Apart from the guests, Gailes blows sop and ten as if his parents had given him them as a dummy substitute!
John D'earth ensures that Faddis doesn't collect all the trumpet points and, but what the 'eck? you don't get on this band from Amateur Hour - you need the chops.
They've got the chops!
Of course, the guy who made it all happen was composer and arranger Doug Richards. One of the relatively unsung legends of the American jazz/music scene.
Lance.
Doug Richards (md); Marty Nau, Jim Nesbit, Skip Gailes, John Winn, Rob Holmes (reeds); Roy Muth, Bob Ransom, John D'earth, Rob DeDominick (tpt/flug); Jim McFalls, Dean Englert, Lee Gause (tmb); Weldon Hill (pno); Victor Dvoskin (bs); Howard Curtis (dms) + Rene Marie (vcl); Jon Faddis (tpt); Joe Kennedy, Jr (vln).

2 comments :

Jr. Williams said...

Big band jazz to listen to?
Big Big Bands by FinnyCapp

Anonymous said...

Big big band jazz by FinnyCap? Funky beats - I see they also do a number called Praying to the Plug? I don't think Glenn Miller ever recorded that one ......

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