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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & 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

Monday, September 25, 2017

Maurice Summerfield remembers Mike Carr

(Tribute by Maurice Summerfield).
I  was very sad to hear that Mike Carr had died.  My friendship and musical association with Mike go back almost 60 years. 
I believe we first met through our mutual friend bassist Alan Collins. Alan and I were playing in various small jazz groups in the Newcastle area.  In 1958 Mike was offered a regular Monday night jazz spot at the High Point Hotel in Whitley Bay.  He put together the Mike Carr Quintet to play there with himself on vibraphone, the late Bernie Thorp on piano, Alan Collins on bass, Ian Forbes on drums and myself on guitar.  This became a regular jazz night for the quintet for around two years.  During that time Bernie, Alan and I also played Tuesday and Thursday evenings as the ‘Bernie Thorp Trio’ in the Marimba Coffee Bar on High Bridge .  (The 1959 photo shows Mike Carr (vibes) , Alan Collins (bass) , Maurice Summerfield (guitar)  and Len Gatoff (drums).  Bernie Thorp (piano) not on photo.)
Mike’s High Point quintet also played a few times at the Downbeat Club in Newcastle.  Like the Marimba this venue was owned by Mike Jeffery who gained fame as Jimi Hendrix’s manager.  These were memorable gigs.  I remember the then unknown Eric Burdon and Alan Price once sat in and played during our interval.

By early 1960 Mike was playing piano and vibes regularly in the Newcastle area  with tenor player Gary Cox, Mike’s brother Ian on trumpet, Malcom Cecil on bass and Ronnie Stephenson on drums.  This was a formidable group indeed eventually gaining international fame as the ‘Em Cee Five’.  I was lucky enough to play with this group a couple of times at the Union Club on the West Road, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Mike Carr was truly a great swinging jazz musician,  and in my estimation not fully recognised for his great talents.  He went on to play his Hammond B3 organ with many jazz greats over the next 40 years.  In 1960 I gave up playing in public in order to devote my energies to my business.  However Mike and I  continued to stay in touch right up until quite recently. In 2012 he was my guest at a Musicians Company jazz evening in London.  He told me then he had not played for two years and this surprised me as he looked so well.  I now realise he was in the early stages of dementia.  In 2015 his son Robert emailed me to say Mike had dementia and it would be nice if he could arrange a Skype meeting between Mike and I to have a chat.  I agreed and we did this.  However, sadly,  it was obvious Mike did not really recognise me.

Despite his busy life I was always impressed that Mike was also a devoted father.  After the early death of his wife Mike was exemplary in bringing up his son and handicapped daughter alone over very many years.
On this YouTube clip Mike is with Dave Cliff (guitar) and Harold Smith (drums).
Maurice S.

1 comment :

Paul Thompson (on F/b). said...

Several years ago Mike (on Hammond B3) and his combo were appearing at the Darlington Arts Centre. During the interval I chatted to him and told him that his brother Ian (the trumpeter) had taught me at the John Marley School in Newcastle and one day had given me a hundred lines 0 "I must try not to behave like a barbarian" to which Mike replied "He's a prick!"

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