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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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Monday, November 28, 2016

The House of the Black Gardenia @ The Globe Jazz Bar - November 27.

(Review by Lance).
Upstairs, they were tangoing, downstairs, they were lindy hopping. Upstairs and downstairs they were having fun.
Which is what it's all about.
The inhabitants of the Black Gardenia House provided a raucous, raunchy, revival of good old-fashioned entertainment. The audience loved it as they danced away their shoes.
These guys (and gal) draw their repertoire from the early, exciting days of jazz and blues and dance music. The music that provided the bedrock for the music of today and it's to their credit that young musicians such as these are prepared to embrace the past as well as looking to the future. It augers well for the music we love.

Bobbi Charleston sang the blues, risque vaudeville numbers such as If You Don't Give me What I Want; I Ain't Gonna Give Nobody None of my Jelly Roll and Baby Don't Tear my Clothes as well as a few reefer songs such as Viper Man and Weed Smoker's Dream a.k.a. Why Don't You do Right? A singer, well-versed in the idiom, and a washboardist too - no scrubber she!
Ben Imrye, a young man who plays mighty fine piano, also sang. He told us, I'm Satisfied With my Girl. A vocal call and response number with the band repudiating his claims in unison. His great version of the old Johnny Long hit Skirts brought the show to a close.
Where has this guy been hiding?
It was a night of discovery. Effective chording from Littlefield on acoustic - with the occasional solo slotted in. Solid sousaphone and double bass from Hopper and atmospheric drumnastics from, wait for it, Kit Haigh.
There was blistering trombone from Gray. David took his chances by the scruff of the neck and justified his nom-de-plume of 'Showtime'. We're accustomed to hearing Lamb blowing hard bop trumpet lines but tonight he was in swing era groove - move over Bunny Berigan.
Robinson on clarinet was another surprise. Normally he only dusts it off for section passages with Strictly Smokin' but tonight it was his main instrument and Artie Shaw didn't turn in his grave.
A most enjoyable evening and a good weekend for the Jazz Coop.
Remember the name - The House of the Black Gardenia.
Lance.
Prior to the gig, I was reading local author, Fiona Veitch Smith's mystery novel, The Jazz Files. Fiona should have been here, the music and her story - set as it was in the 1920's - totally complemented each other. 
Bobbi Charleston (vocal/washboard); David Gray (trombone); Michael Lamb (trumpet); Keith Robinson (tenor/clarinet/flute); Ben Imrye (piano/vocal); Michael Littlefield (guitar); Neil Hopper (bass/sousaphone); Kit Haigh (drums).

1 comment :

Dave Rae said...

It was great to see and hear those wonderful young musicians!
We had a lovely night.

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