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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

Classic Swing @ The Ship, Monkseaton - January 23

Bob Wade (trumpet/flugel); Don Fairley (trombone); Paul Gowland (tenor); Colin Haikney (piano); Alan Rudd (bass); Tommy Graham (drums); Olive Rudd (vocals) + Gordon Solomon (trombone); Doris Fenn (banjo).
(Review by Lance/video by MaryB Jazz).
Front Street, in the Whitley Bay suburb of Monkseaton, may fall short of  52nd St. in its heyday but its three pubs have, over the years, all contributed to the lunchtime classic/vintage jazz scene. Two of them still do. On Fridays, Maureen Hall's Rendezvous Jazz are regulars at the Monkseaton Arms whilst, up the street at Ye Olde Ship (or 'The Ship' as most people call it), Bob Wade and Classic Swing play their brand of mainstream on Tuesdays. This was my first visit and it certainly won't be my last. Seats were at a premium and when they kicked off with It Don't Mean a Thing it was easy to understand why.
South African trumpet player Wade is rapidly carving a niche for himself on the local scene and justifiably so. His attacking style with its bravura runs and half-valve effects wouldn't be out of place at a 1930s club in Harlem. With Paul Gowland adjusting to the idiom on tenor and Don Fairley consolidating his position as top trombone, the band plays what it says on the tin - Classic Swing.
Adding Colin Haikney on piano - is there a more tasteful player? - Alan Rudd on bass and Tommy Graham on drums enables them to comfortably fill the gap 'twixt the New Orleans bands and the boppers.
A very palatable cake indeed - and that's before we add the icing!

I hadn't heard Olive Rudd since she sang with the Maine Street boys at Rosie's in South Shields a few years back. Well, let me tell you, folks, that, even with a cold, she's still got it! What's more, unlike at Rosie's, she's not restricted to a couple of numbers each set.
My only complaint is that she didn't sing I Wished on the Moon or How'd Ya Like to Love me?  Still, a minor quibble compared to what she did sing.
It Don't Mean a Thing: Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man of Mine (he was on bass); The Gipsy; I Got Rhythm; Make me a Pallet on the Floor; 'S Wonderful; When You're Smiling and Tuxedo Junction.

The big surprise of the afternoon was the arrival of trombonist Gordon Solomon. Gordon, former leader of the River City Jazzmen, the Phoenix Jazzmen and member of various other bands including the Newcastle Big Band confided that, owing to ill-health, he hadn't played for ten years but was hoping to sit in.
Sit in he did!
A spirited Rosetta* with Doris Fenn on banjo revealed that the old magic hadn't gone and his duet with Don Fairley on Sweet Georgia Brown absolutely brought the house down - J & K ride again!

Paul Gowland played Darn That Dream and dreamy it was. I've heard Paul play like Coltrane, Parker, Shorter but this afternoon he was closer to Hawkins, Webster maybe Chu (not Chuck!) Berry. Such is the man's versatility.

Let's not forget the rhythm section.
The trio had the spotlight for Surrey With the Fringe on Top. It was even tastier than my cheese and onion toastie and rivalled my pint of Jennings' Cumberland Ale.
A most enjoyable afternoon.
Lance.

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