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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17945 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far, 22 this month (April 8).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

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, July 24, 2017

Key Moments 2


Following on from David Brownlow's Key Moments, here are a few of mine...
At the Jazz Band Ball by Muggsy Spanier and Intermission Riff by Stan Kenton hit me simultaneously which was all wrong.  Back then it had to be either one or the other. If you liked Dixieland then you turned your nose up at Progressive Jazz and vice versa. Likewise, if you went for the Bunk Johnson/George Lewis brand of New Orleans it was heresy to even mention Bird or Diz in the same breath. Today there are still pragmatists in both camps who maintain this tunnelled vison approach.
Birth of the Blues by Frank Sinatra. One of his last recordings for Columbia before moving over to Capital and those classic long-players: Wee Small Hours, Swingin’ Lovers, Swingin’ Affair etc. Birth of the Blues was important inasmuch as it removed Guy Mitchell, Eddie Fisher, Johnny Ray from my record shelves. The B (flip) side, Why Try to Change me Now?, remains the benchmark for ballad singing.
Hearing the Emcee Five at The Downbeat in Newcastle; Jimmy Miller playing great piano at a pub in Blaydon; Sunday mornings at The Bluebell in Felling, The University Theatre, in Newcastle, The City Vaults down the Bigg Market; The Tally Ho in Kentish Town.
Playing with the Newcastle Big Band at the San Sebastian Jazz Festival.
The characters: Jurich who ran the New Orleans Club, Andy Hudson, who ran the aforementioned big band, Brian Fisher who fell asleep at the piano whilst playing a Glenn Miller number with the band, and Keith Crombie – a Newcastle legend. I’d known of Crombie for years, even before he took over the original Jazz Café but had steered clear of him due to the picture of him painted by The Establishment. The Establishment and Crombie were natural enemies. However, when I did get to know him I found that beneath that gruff exterior there was an even gruffer interior – until he got to know you and decided you weren’t going to stab him in the back. Knowledgeable and opinionated on just about everything he’d listen to your argument, nod as if in agreement then dismiss it with words you wouldn’t find in The War Cry. The procession through the streets of Newcastle on the day of his funeral was akin to the passing of the wearer of a NUFC number 9 shirt.
Listening to Roland Kirk in concert at a Durham college; Guy Lafitte, Bob Wilber & Warren Vaché at Breda Jazz Festival; Art Pepper at the University Theatre; Carol Kidd at a pub in Edinburgh; Meeting Daryl Sherman at North Shields; meeting Eric Delaney at South Shields – the list is endless.
Let’s have your lists…
Lance.
PS: Not forgetting working with Ronnie McLean and Hughie Aitchison at J.G.Windows Music Store.

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