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

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: The ’58 Jazz Collective @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, West Park, 7:30pm. £7.00.
Wed 18: Brand New Heavies @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Stephen Joshua Sondheim.
Thu 19: FILM: Köln 75 @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £7.00., £3.00. Dir. Ido Fluk. Fictional account of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln concert. A Tyne Valley Film Festival preview screening.
Thu 19: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 20: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Theon Cross + support @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £13.31., £11.16., £9.04. Support set feat. members of balletLORENT’s Creative Studio in association with NYJO.
Fri 20: Groove Crusade @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £32.00.
Fri 20: Joe Steels Group @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £12.00. +bf, £15.00. on the door. A Blue Patch album tour. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 20: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ Riverdale Hall Hotel, Bellingham NE48 2JT. Tel: 01434 220254. 8:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 21: Freetime Old Dixie Jass Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. FODJB (Holland).
Sat 21: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sat 21: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22:Jack Pearce Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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

Friday, August 03, 2018

Vermont Big Band in Cullercoats

This poster was spotted whilst trawling the mean streets of Cullercoats. It was displayed inside the Crescendo Club - a lunchtime jazz joint overlooking the sea. Outside, broads in bikinis were strutting their stuff prior to dipping their toes in the briny.
Inside, an assortment of jazz guys was blowing as if there were no tomorrow and, for some, maybe there wasn't. Most of the broads in here were broader and weren't wearing bikinis. Maybe they had, once, a long time ago. Still, the music was good, Capone would have liked it, the booze was cheap and came from one of the local bootleg breweries.
I asked around, I got plenty of answers and a few phone numbers but not the answers I was looking for - I kept the phone numbers for a rainy day.
Nobody knew who this Vermont Big Band was. I wondered if I'd have to take a flight to New England. I hoped not, the way business has been lately I couldn't buy a ticket to Old England.
Then I had this idea - Lance! The coolest cat on the planet or maybe it should read that he has the coolest cat on the planet? Yup, if L and that slinky feline Daphne couldn't come up with the answer then no one could.
An advert on Lance's Bebop Spoken Here blog would surely provide the answer to the question - Who are the Vermont Big Band?
Mike Hammer.

1 comment :

Chris Kaberry said...

Hi "Mike Hammer" the ‘Vermont Big Band’ is actually my band and it’s been going 16 years... it’s part of North Tyneside Music Service, but I did a summer ‘adults only’ gig on Sat night at CCC... we’re doing another one on 13th October. We had an excellent gig, I conduct... I don’t play. For the record, the band was: Felicity Ripley, Ben Gibbon (altos); Peter Elliott, Alan Marshall (tenors); Russell Rogers (baritone). Mike Graham, Wendy Innes, Steve Crockett, Bob Harrison, Kate Brown (trumpets). Chris Kurji-Smith, Colin Winship (trombones); Michael Mather (drums); James Thompson (Bass); Andy Mather (Guitar); Phil Noble (keys) and on vocals, the one and only Beth Tippins.
We did 15 vocals and 4 instrumentals on Sat.
Next time it is a 40’s style night. We’ll do 8/9 vocals and the rest instrumentals.
So, the secret is out!

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