
For the past seventeen years we've been updating the world about jazz in the north east of England and updating the north east of England about jazz in the world. WINNER of the Jazz Media Category in the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Contact lanceliddle@gmail.com
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MAY 2025
Tue 13: ???
Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Recital (stage 2): Leah Kirk (voice) @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 3:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Jerron Paxton @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.20. Excellent country blues multi-instrumentalist.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. BACK IN BUSINESS, all welcome!
Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.
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: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.
Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.
Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.
Reviewers wanted
Sunday, June 18, 2017
‘Brother Can You Spare A Dime?’ – A song worth singing

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- Carleen Anderson @ Sage Gateshead - June 29
- Colin Aitchison July dates
- CD Review(ish): Alan Broadbent - Developing Story.
- RIP Geri Allen
- CD Review: Jan Harbeck's Live Jive Jungle - Elevate
- RIP Sandi Russell
- Preview: Gypsy Jazz Workshop @ Easington
- UN-NATURAL FUNCTIONS
- CD Review: Kathrine Windfeld Big Band
- Gordon Goodwin’s Big Phat Band @ Royal Northern Co...
- Update on forthcoming gigs at Blaydon Jazz Club
- Jazz Lads back at Saltburn next Sunday (July 2)
- Noel Dennis Trio @ Gala Theatre, Durham - June 23
- Paul Skerritt Band @ Jazz Café - June 23
- The Gabi Heller Quartet @ The Globe - June 22
- More Group Theory photos.
- Group Theory @ The Jazz Café - June 22
- In [Group] Theory one not to miss
- Durham University Big Band @ The Jazz Café - June 21
- Joe Stilgoe @ Hoochie Coochie - Mini Preview
- Mahler, Schoenberg and Finzi by Durham University ...
- Jazz Café Jam Session - June 20
- CD Review: Small Town - Bill Frisell (guitar) and ...
- JAZZ IN THE UNDERCROFT 12 July 2017 7.00pm, Under...
- De’Sean Jones & Knomadik @ Dacre Hall, Lanercost ...
- James Birkett & Bradley Johnston @ Blaydon Jazz Cl...
- Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Hoochie Coochie - June 18
- ‘Brother Can You Spare A Dime?’ – A song worth sin...
- Joe Morris Tony Bevan Duo; Wandering Monster @ Bri...
- Chaka Khan @ 02 Academy, Newcastle, June 12.
- CD Review: Stanton Moore - With You in Mind, the S...
- The Dynamic Duo @ The Black Bull
- A Carolina Moon over the Crescent Club - June 14
- A Night of Swing @ Newcastle University - June 13
- Samuel Eagles' Spirit @ The Globe - June 13
- Musicians Unlimited. Bugle Call Rag. Park Inn, Har...
- George Heaviside Remembers John (Mighty Joe) Young
- CD Review: Samuel Eagles' SPIRIT - Ask Seek Knock
- Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, June 15
- CD Review: Tina Raymond - Left Right Left
- The Gala Big Band @ St. Cuthbert’s Parish Centre, ...
- CD Review: Yoko Miwa Trio - Pathways
- Young, Gifted and Back (In Crook). The Early Bird ...
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- Tunde Jegede:'Testimony'. Concert and two worksho...
- CD Review: Sue McCreeth - Look Back And Love
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- Bopera on Radio 3
- CD Review: Allegra Levy - Cities Between Us
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9 comments :
Sadly this song wasn't recently decreed by some American institution or other to have been the greatest song of the C20th. That accolade went to - drum roll - Imagine by John Lemon. Ah well, at least it wasn't Yesterday or Bohemian Rhapsody - Lance will be wishing it was Summertime.
I remember Richard Madely saying he doesn't like Imagine and a black colleague (who should know better) telling him to listen to the lyrics - Plato for 11+.
I recall another lady saying how iconic it is but when Terry Christian observed it's rather dull and plodding, she seemed unable to speak afterwards.
If you imagine how much music we know from the C19th, C18th etc. The late 18th early 19th century is heard as the golden age of classical music though most of us will only know 2,3 maybe half a dozen composers from that period.
How much C20th music do we think the current custodians of taste will pass on to the future historians on our behalf and is this what we want it to be?
Being a Jazzer means also being a fighter, not passively thinking the people running the media machine have any interest in music.
Sorry for hijacking your blog and I'd like to suggest: Jesse James - If You Want a Love Affair, Beloyd - Get into your Life, Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me and loads of stuff by Curtis Mayfield; lyrically maybe We the people who are Darker than Blue, We Gotta have Peace or Back to the World, or maybe the Impressions People get Ready. Or maybe something by Cole Porter.
I'd
Have you heard George Michael's version of it with a big band Ann? It's tremendous. x
I'm glad this has started a discussion. Steve, I know hardly any of the songs you mention, so I suppose it depends on what people listen to. I don't think choosing best songs of all time is useful. I like allsorts, eg Adele's 'Someone Like You' or Elbow's 'Days Like These'.'Imagine' was written with good intentions but the words aren't very sensible.
Hilary, I've listened to this on Utube, but I prefer a more intimate way of singing the song. The man concerned wouldn't have access to many resources, so low tech is best.
I'm not really a song person. I like them as vehicles for music. The Al Green version of How can you mend a Broken Heart is sublime but the BeeGees version is terrible. So is it a good song? The original c + w version of Storybook Children is terrible but Gregory Isaacs version is amazing. Unlike Sinatra, I love his version of My Way but Sid Viscous? There are lots of examples. I worry when people talk about their favourite songs. That isn't what we like; we like genres of music, or in the case of people like John Lemon, people worship them and everything they do.
As always, Steve, you come out of left field and I'm never quite sure what you're on about! So you're not a song person you just like them as vehicles for music! Are songs not music? Lester Young, and others, have said they like to know the words when playing a song. It gives them an insight into the composer's mind. Most people have favourite songs even though they change from day to day. Songs, usually relate to memories like the girl you danced with at a club. Great lyricists such as Johnny Mercer, are, in their own way, the poets of the last century. Like Porter, Hart, Harburg they created masterpieces even before the music was added.
Like Ann, I'm unfamiliar with most of the songs you mention but I do find it strange that, Sinatra being the exception, your predilection for black music at the expense of all other. In this day and age I'd have thought people had long since dropped the race card and just treat music for what it is. Something to be listened to irrespective of genre. Good or bad is what counts which of course means one man's meat etc...
Just a thought. Perhaps the acid test for this is:- What songs would you like to be played at your funeral? One of mine is Nancy Griffiths singing 'From A Distance', but I'm told that Bette Midler does a better version. But I suppose you wouldn't hear it yourself at the funeral, although we don't actually know that for certain!
Songs are music but music isn't necessarily songs. To say that Zappa, Trane or even progrock is just songs is clearly playing to the songsmiths; the nice verse and the nice chorus most people now think of as music.
You may have noticed I never use the word tune. I first heard it in the early eighties to describe reggae, which is more about the ridim. In the late eighties an ex girlfriend started using it to describe soul, which is more about the grain in the voice; a 'good' song may help but the voice is the thing. Eventually the pop people started using it but neglected to mention the novelty and the haircut which distinguished it from each other.
It's all black music; if I started saying my favourite composers were all black, people would think I'm nutty, but we accept the great black music was all by white people, just because they get more media attention and made more money. It's not mentioning race that is racist.
As Hamlet said - there is nothing either good or bad, cept thinking makes it so.
I'm not too interested in what Paul Gambaccini thinks.
From a jazz playing perspective learning the lyrics helps to learn the melodies and as you mention Lance, a deeper understanding of the piece. However, most would hopefully agree that jazz musicians play more than just a song; they use it as a springboard for new innovations. Also. the likes of Curtis Mayfield should surely be placed in more esteem than the likes of Adele... regardless of race
The song about the wall st collapse which started ww2
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