Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18585 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 449 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 31) 103

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

May

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

June

Mon 01: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Mon 01: CW Stoneking @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Blues, Americana.

Tue 02: Mark Williams Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 02: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Postmodern Jukebox @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Thu 04: Webster’s Ragtime Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £17.00. Trio from Texas, USA.
Thu 04: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Chicago blues excellence!
Thu 04: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 05: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05-Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne. Screenings TBC.
Fri 05: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: House of the Black Gardenia: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). House of the Black Gardenia evening performance. Day 1/3.
Fri 05: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band + IKS Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.00. Big band double bill. IKS Big Band (Germany).
Fri 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00

Sat 06: Struggle Buggy @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Dry Water Arts, Amble. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £15.00.
Sat 06: IKS Big Band: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). IKS Big Band evening performance. Day 2/3.
Sat 06: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Northumbrian Revival, West Benridge Farm, nr. Morpeth NE61 3RZ. 7:30-9:30pm. £21.47 (£2.77. child). 82nd D-Day anniversary event.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 06: FILM: The Magic City: Birmingham According to Sun Ra @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 9:30pm. £7.00., £5.00. Dir. Guillaume Maupin & Pablo Guarise.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Remembering Louis Stewart (January 5, 1944 - August 20, 2016)

I was fortunate to meet Louis in the late 1970s as I had admired his jazz guitar artistry for many years.  Up to that time, with the exception of Pete Chilver and Dave Goldberg, the UK had not produced a jazz guitarist to match the leading USA jazz guitarists.  Louis, however, proved to be more than a match for the transatlantic masters.  He was a natural jazz musician and greatly admired by audiences all over the world. 
Louis was a quiet and modest person who unfortunately suffered a drink problem for periods of his career.  I remember seeing him play a Jazz North East Jazz concert at the Corner House Hotel in Heaton back in the 1980s.  I met him before the concert and he was already quite drunk.  I thought he would not be able to play.  However, he went on stage and gave a truly memorable performance.  He fortunately managed to get over this problem with alcohol and enjoyed an impressive 50+ year career as one of the world’s best jazz guitarists appearing in clubs and concert halls all over the world.  He made many recordings with his own combos and several with George Shearing, and some as a member of the Benny Goodman orchestra.
From the 1960s to the late 1980s my company was the UK distributor of the prestigious Ibanez guitar line.  I was pleased to be able to sign up an endorsement agreement for Louis with this leading Japanese company.  The attached photo (taken by Gordon Wright) shows Louis playing his Ibanez guitar during a concert at the St James Hotel in Edinburgh on13 February 1980.
Very sadly missed.
Maurice J. Summerfield.

6 comments :

Anonymous said...

Nice homage, except that Louis was not from the UK, he was Irish and the quintessential Dublin man (even though born in Waterford), also it is unwarranted to say he had a "drink problem" as Louis drank no more than any other Dublin man of the time.

Anonymous said...

Just because you've left the EU doesn't mean you get free license to claim Irish people of outstanding achievement as products of the UK or otherwise to fix them up as stereotypes. You've attempted to do both here. If you can't post a better informed estimation of Louis' genius, then take this one down.

Lance said...

Sir, no one on this site is in any doubt as to the genius that was Louis Stewart. Nor has there been any intent to claim him as other than the finest, and one of the world's, greatest, Irish jazzmen. Maurice Summerfield who wrote the obituary was a dear friend of Louis and collaborated with Louis re his choice of guitars.
If you feel this doesn't do Louis justice then please send us your own obituary (preferably under your own name).

Lance said...

As a footnote, unlike some jazz sites, we don't do politics. We leave that to the politicians. We just love and try to support the music.

Swordfish2 said...

As you rightly say Lance, Maurice was a good friend of Louis'.Louis mentioned him often, and introduced me to him a couple of months before illness hit him, when Maurice was in Dublin and came to Louis' gig.

Anonymous said...

I think it is exceptionally poor form to imply that Louis was British and discuss his supposed drink problem. You say you don't do politics but by putting up a piece that implies that Ireland is part of the UK and one of our greatest artists was British, you've done so. When are the Brits not at it?

https://arethebritsatitagain.org/

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