Bebop Spoken There

Warne Marsh: "At some point, you have to be prepared to create—to perform. It's vital, man, if we're talking about jazz, the original jazz, the performing art. It fulfils its meaning only when you play it live in front of an audience." DownBeat January 1983.

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: Homer’s Lane + John Garner & John Pope @ St John’s Church, Riding Mill. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. Gabriele Heller’s audio play + Garner & Pope.
Sat 17: Martyn Roper @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. Roper’s ‘One Man Blues Band’.
Sat 17: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Alexia Gardner Trio @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). Gardner, Alan Law & Jude Murphy.

Sun 18: Louis Louis Louis @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 2:00pm (doors). £15.00. Swing, jump jive, rhythm & blues. Fundraiser for St Oswald’s Hospice.
Sun 18: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Rod Sinclair.
Sun 18: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Herdman-Strong Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence, Paul Grainger, Joe Deans.

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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