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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18069 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 390 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (May 222).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 11:30am & 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 1:30pm. Free.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

Mon 26: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 26: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.00. & £10.00.
Tue 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Front St., Rothbury NE65 7UT.7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. adv. from Tully’s (opp. venue).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: That’s the Blues, Dad.
Thu 29: Nova.sol + Mikoudi @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 29: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, blues etc.

p>Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Rivkala @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Middleton & Tonbridge Village Hall. 7:30pm.

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, 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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