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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

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

Saturday, April 14, 2018

King Bees @ Newcastle Beer & Cider Festival - April 13

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals); Scott Taylor (harmonica, vocals); Dominic Hornsby (piano, guitar, vocals); Simon Hedley (double bass); Giles Holt (drums) + lots of beer!
(Review by Russell)
The blues band of the moment, a Friday night out at the 42nd Newcastle Beer and Cider Festival, you can’t go wrong, can you? A raised corner stage, a modest PA system, the crowd drinking like there was no tomorrow and with WWIII likely to break out at any time what better way to go?! The King Bees took to the stage with commemorative festival beer glasses in hand (a drinking band – hurrah!) ready to play the best South Side Chicago blues east of, well, Chicago!

I don’t know, man, I just don’t know sang harmonica frontman Scott Taylor with resignation. Yeah! This is the band of the moment. A young band keeping the blues’ flame burning, these guys have the thing down; sharp and not so sharp suits, the hardware (see photo of Scott Taylor’s harmonica case), a detached, distracted look, all the while playing the blues as it should be played. My Babe, Jimmy Rogers’ Walking by Myself with Michael Littlefield’s spot-on guitar playing, the Northumbria Students’ Union venue packed with beer-ticking imbibing souls, it didn’t take long for some of them to turn an ear to what was going down in the far corner of the hall.

Kansas City got them up dancing, Caldonia kept them dancing. Phew! Time for a break, time for a refill. Breweries from all parts were represented at this year’s festival; Cornwall’s brews went down well, as did several others, but the top beer, as far as your blues correspondent is concerned, was brewed nearby at Newcastle University’s student run microbrewery. The informative notes read ‘A pale amber colour, bursting with Citra, Centennial, Chinook, and three types of Cascade including hops we grew ourselves at the University.’ The beer – Cascade Diagram (5.5%) from Stu Brew.

Beer in hand, back to the blues. Otis Rush, with Scott Taylor imploring Sit Down Baby. The tune of the night, sung by Taylor, was Tight Dress. From one harmonica player to another, this was Taylor tipping his hat to George ‘Harmonica’ Smith. Taylor’s mean-eyed vocals hit the bull’s eye:   

Hey you, you with the tight dress on. Hey you, you with the tight dress on.
Well, you’re a fine looking woman, don’t make me leave my home.                    

The temptation was there. King Bees closed their set with Got My Mojo Working. They’re the band of the moment, catch them at Billy Bootleggers, first Friday in the month, on stage nine o’clock and it’s free admission.
Russell        

   

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