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

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

CD Review: Peter Horsfall - Nighthawks

Peter Horsfall (vocals); Giacomo Smith (alto); Joe Webb (piano); Ferg Ireland (bass); Pedro Segundo (drums) + David Archer (guitar) & Cherise Adams-Burnett & Renato Paris (backing vocals) on Couldn't Stop Lovin' You.
(Review by Lance).
If you're expecting to hear some modern Dixieland horn-blowing from Basin Street Brawlers' trumpet man, Horsfall, then walk away now. However, if you're a fan of his whispering, atmospheric vocals, then, stay right there - don't move. If Edward Hopper is your favourite artist then you won't want to move and, if you just happen to wonder if Cécile McLorin Salvant paints as good as she sings  - here is where you find out!
Horsfall left his trumpet in the hock shop for this one, instead, using his laidback, understated vocals (he makes Chet Baker sound like Little Richard) he wistfully caresses songs of love lost and found. He's in the mind of the characters in Hopper's immortal painting - Nighthawks. We're in Philly's Late Night Diner.
Five of the original ballads were co-written by Horsfall and Smith as well as interpretations of Paradise by Barry Harris and Duke's Sunset & the Mocking Bird with new lyrics by Horsfall.
The band is drawn from Kansas Smitty's House Band and, if you like Johnny Hodges, just listen to Giacomo Smith wail!
Cécile? Our girl's paintings give some light relief to the doom-laden artwork of the booklet - brilliant though David Hamblett's photos are.
Way back when, in the wee small hours of the morning, we'd listen to In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning. Perhaps nighthawks now, in the wee small hours of the morning,  will listen to Nighthawks.

Like most CDs today, I had to get the cat to read the info - and she had to borrow my glasses.
Lance.
Release date November 24. Album launch November 29 @ Kansas Smitty's.

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