Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

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: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Sunday, November 06, 2016

Big Muddy @ The Globe Jazz Bar on Bonfire Night

(Review by Ann Alex/photo from archives)
We didn’t need fireworks at the Globe as we had our own in musical form. The horns struck up for a prompt start, soon followed by the whole band doing a couple of tunes that I should have known the names of, good and lively anyway. Jude came on with a rollicking version of Black Velvet, a recent song which sounded so good that it could have been written ages ago, as she explained. And Jude was on top form, spirited, raunchy singing, looking so cool in long black boots and black peaked cap, black and white short skirt and top. (The men were mostly clad in black tops and jeans, I never just describe women’s attire, that’s against Feminist rules).

Brubeck’s Broadway Bossa, not often played, had the brass in harmony and Dave on shaker;  then Dave sang Don’t Get Around Much anymore, a slow, bluesy, speakeasy version led by muted cornet  and Dave asking people to join in, as if it was a folk club, said Jude. No-one did. Jude then told us that I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My Sister Kate, which apparently is not just about a dance, then Gordon played clarinet on a Dixieland number. Fine Brown Frame, sang Jude, and she didn’t mean a picture frame, quite a night for double meanings as she pointed out. This included a distinctive muted trombone solo. To round off the first set, we were treated to a Blues Brothers tune and Dave enthusiastically telling us about Mustang Sally.
A short flute intro heralded the second set which included Come Home Baby; Stolen Moments, with a very smooth trombone and Dave on vocals; Herbie Hancock’s Canteloupe Island with Gordon beating it out on claves. A sad, Got To Get Better, sang with feeling by Jude; Horace Silver’s Song For My Father, actually written for his father; Dave singing a spirited Georgia on my Mind (Hoagy Carmichael); then Gordon struck up on the vocal of Big Noise (From Winetka?), with jungle-like drums and – at last - a skilled bass guitar solo. A great evening’s performance was rounded off with Dave singing Silver’s The Preacher, which is, as we all know, based on the chords of Show Me the Way to Go Home. So home I went, well content after a great night of music.

Ann Alex     
Jude Murphy (vocals, bass guitar, flute); Dave Weisser  (vocals, cornet, shaker); Gordon Brown (alto sax, clarinet, claves); John Haylock (baritone sax); Nigel Robson (piano, trombone); Lionel Hehir (guitar); Stu Holiday (drums).

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