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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Gregory Porter + Jo Harrop @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm. Support act: Jo Harrop!

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.

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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