Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
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: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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, July 21, 2018

Mississippi Dreamboats @ Great Exhibition of the North, Blackett Street, Newcastle - July 21

Liz Bacon (clarinet); Jeff Milner (trombone); Richard Speight (banjo, vocals); Ray Newton (double bass); Paul Bacon (drums)
(Review by Russell)
It's been one of those days...a lunchtime trip on the Metro to Regent Centre, then a short walk into Gosforth to listen to a local country blues guitarist only to discover the event wasn't due to start until late afternoon. What to do?

Walk along the Great North Road on to Gosforth High Street to resume the life-long search (rummaging in second-hand shops) for that recording by Buddy Bolden that no one believes was ever made. No luck, some other day. A bus into town, the latest issue of Jazzwise is out and, after a lengthy hiatus, WH Smith has resumed stocking Downbeat (the July issue is on the newsstand).  
The Great Exhibition of the North is around every street corner and on Blackett Street, there is a weekends-only transformation of the usually busy bus route. Traffic banished, re-routed around the city centre, the road surface is covered in artificial turf with table tennis tables and deck chairs set out for use by one and all. 

Entertainment is provided and this afternoon the Mississippi Dreamboats turned up, parking themselves at a bus stop. If they were waiting for the 39 bus they would have a long wait as the bus stop is out of use until Monday! Strike up the band! On the Sunny Side of the Street, was anyone listening? They were! A smattering of applause greeted the five-piece band's efforts. Wannabee table tennis players fired balls, inadvertently, of course, at the Bacons - that's Liz (clarinet) and Paul (drums). Baby Face... you've got the cutest...yes, babies and toddlers were running around having fun/annoying people (delete as appropriate), and that was about it for the day, save for I Scream, You Scream, oh, let's go and get an ice cream.  
Russell    

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