Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: George Shearing Jazz Moments.

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

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, August 27, 2017

Proms 2017: Swing No End - Radio 3, August 27

Whilst nothing was ever going to quite follow Thursday's Mingus Prom this afternoon's Swing No End made a pretty decent fist of it.
Hosted by Clare Teal with the big bands of Guy Barker and Winston Rollins as well as several guests it was an enjoyable mix of old and not [quite] so old war horses that, thanks to the adapted arrangements, were saved from the knackers yard and looked to be good for another 100 years.
I'm not going to give a blow by blow commentary - the material is too familiar for that - instead, I'll just add an occasional observation.
Milenberg Joys - both bands.
Stuff Like That There - Teal w. WRBB. Clare in great voice.
East St. Louis Toodle oo - GBBB.
Serenade in Blue - Mads Mathias w. Accent Choir. The Great Dane has the edge on Ray Eberle!*
Whatcha Know Joe - Georgina Jackson w. Accent Choir.
Singin' the Blues - GBBB. Alan Barnes, fresh from playing with the Buck Clayton Legacy Band at Ushaw the previous evening, stepped into Frankie Trumbauer's shoes for this Bix classic.
Tribute to Mary Lou Williams.
Blue Skies (Trumpet no End) - WRBB w. Hiromi on piano and the trumpets blowing where the air is rarified just like Duke's boys did on Mary Lou's original arrangement for the Ellington Band.
What's Your Story Morning Glory? - Hiromi plays a stunning piano solo and Mads handles the vocal with aplomb.
I Got Rhythm - Hiromi certainly has!
Roll 'Em - Mary Lou scored and composed this for the Goodman Band. Alan Barnes plays clarinet and Hiromi rounds off this mini tribute to the legendary Ms. Williams with another fine solo. The WRBB in support.
They Can't Take That Away From me - Vanessa Haynes w. WRBB pays tribute to Lady Day.
This just about completes the first half - not quite but, as the show is being shown on BBC 4 next Friday (Sept. 1) seems like it will be a good idea for me to save the rest until then!
In the meantime, you can catch-up on the BBC website over the next 29 days.
Lance.
(Incidentally, during the intermission, Geoffrey Smith talked about and introduced readings from some books with jazz inspired scenes i.e. a Langston Hughes' poem, J.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, James Baldwin's Sonny's Blues and Jack Kerouac's On The Road.)


Guy Barker Big Band (Guy Barker MD/conductor/trumpet)
Saxophones: Graeme Blevins, Alan Barnes, Karen Sharp Paul Booth, Jessamy Holder
Trumpets: Nathan Bray, Tom Rees -Roberts, Chris Storr, Georgina Jackson/Guy Barker
Trombones: Nichol Thomson, Alastair White, Harry Brown, Mark Frost
Rhythm: Al Cherry, Mike Gorman, Tim Thornton, Ed Richardson

Winston Rollins Big Band (Winston Rollins conductor/trombone)
Saxophones: Howard McGill, Alex Garnett, Rob Fowler, Chelsea Carmichael, Gemma Moore
Trumpets: Mike Lovatt, Pat White, Freddie Gavita, Annette Brown
Trombones: Barnaby Dickinson, Callum Au, Carol Jarvis, Barry Clements
Rhythm: David Archer, Joe Webb, Alec Dankworth, Shane Forbes
*Ray Eberle, vocalist on the original Glenn Miller recording.

2 comments :

Liz said...

I shall be watching it on BBC4 on Friday.

Sid White (on F/b) said...

I was listening to this on the way to a gig sounded awesome .

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