Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

From This Moment On

April

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 09: Tom Remon + Laurence Harrison @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 09: Michael Littlefield @ The Harbour View, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Blues.
Thu 09: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra w. Dan Johnson @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. £15.00. inc. bf.

Fri 10: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Joe Steels: Celebrating Wes Montgomery @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Joe Steels, Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Gambling Janes @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 10: Jake Leg Jug Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 10: Steve White Trio @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00. + bf. Soul Drum (Acid Jazz Records) album tour.

Sat 11: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £26.80.

Sun 12: Swing Social @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Admission: Donations (£5.00. - £10.00. suggested). Swing dance taster class, social dancing to Niffi Osiyemi Trio, DJs. Non dancers welcome. A Cluny-Swing Tyne event.
Sun 12: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 12: Trio Grand @ The White Room, Stanley. 6:30-9:30pm. £10.84.
Sun 12: SH#RP Collective @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.

Tuesday, May 29, 2018

Pete Gilligan Trio @ the Prohibition Bar / Left Hand Lewis @ Wardley Hotel - May 28

Pete Gilligan (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
(Review by Lance/photos by Russell)
There's a scene in the movie adaptation of Hemingway's Snows of Kilimanjaro where Benny Carter plays Blue Mountain in a dimly-lit bar*. Set in the 1930s I'm always reminded of that scene when I enter the Prohibition Bar, particularly on a jazz evening. Last night was no exception and although Benny Carter was missing, along with Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck, the presence of the Pete Gilligan Trio retained the Hemingway-like ambiance.
Since his departure to foreign climes (see the previous post) pianist Gilligan's playing seems to have reached an even higher level going by his recent performances here and at other venues around town. It must be the Thai cuisine or the fact that the country once had a king who played the saxophone. Whatever, he played his ass off, to coin a phrase. 

Grainger too seems to raise his already impressive game when Pete's on piano whilst Russ Morgan and fellow kitmen Matt MacKellar and Eric Stutt also never fail to deliver.
From the opening Whisper Not to the closing (for me that is) Witchcraft the evening flew past in a cascade of notes. Swinging and sensitive. The known and the not so well known. The good, but never the bad or the ugly.
Oliver Nelson's The Meeting; Weaver of Dreams (had there been a request from Glasgow?); Our Spanish Love Song (Charlie Haden); On the Sunny Side of the Street; Alec Wilder's Moon and Sand; Bouncing With Bud; Tenderly; Take the A Train; Opus de Funk and Old Folks were the other tunes I heard. Even without Benny Carter, Ava Gardner and Gregory Peck. Ernest Hemingway's presence was still felt.

(Meanwhile, earlier)
Left Hand Lewis (piano/vocal) @ The Wardley Hotel, Bill Quay.
Hemingway's presence hadn't reached the Wardley Hotel some 3 or 4 miles down river where Left Hand Lewis was rockin' and rollin' in the best tradition of his namesake Jerry Lee. The bank holiday drinkers were up for it as LHL pounded the keyboard into near submission and gave his vocal chords a workout as the patrons boogied and woogied.
I liked the words on one of the reveller's tee-shirt: "I may be old but I've seen all the good bands". A sentiment I'd go along with although we'd probably be at odds as to who the good bands were!
Nevertheless, an entertaining start to the evening.
Lance
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