Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''I believe we are living in a historically embarrassing moment in American history.'' - Downbeat December 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

18061 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1025 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Dec. 14).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 20: Jazz Attack @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 11:00am. Free.
Sat 20: Alexia Gardner @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 6:30pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy. SOLD OUT!
Sat 20: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: Hoodoo Blues @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:15pm (doors). £14.25, £11.55. Dance class, social dancing, live music & Xmas Party. Live music from 9:00pm - Ruth Lambert, Giles Strong, Ian Paterson & John Bradford (jazz and blues).
Sat 20: John Pope Quintet @ Blank Studios, Newcastle. 7:30-8:30pm. £7.70 (inc. bf). Album recording session.

Sun 21: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. ‘Xmas Swingalong’. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00-5:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ o2 City Hall, Newcastle. 6:00pm. £35.80., £33.25., £31.00.
Sun 21: The Globe Xmas Party @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Live music.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:30pm. Free.

Mon 22: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:30pm. ‘The A Capella Sessions’. Gardner, Paula Gardner, Alexia Hope Gardner Diamany.
Wed 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Thu 25: Alexia Gardner @ The Townhouse, Bridge St., Morpeth. 1:30-4:00pm. ‘All About the Bass Sessions’. Alexia Gardner, Paula Gardner, Jude Murphy.

Fri 26: ???

Sat 27: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sat 27: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Jason Holcomb & co.

Mon 29: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £8.00., £7.00. adv.

Wed 31: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 31: Lil Miss Mary & the Mr Rights Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. ‘Early NYE Bash’. Rockabilly, rhythm & blues.
Wed 31: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. ‘Midnight in Manhattan’ NYE party. £49.46 (inc. bf) & £29.38 (inc. bf).

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, September 08, 2018

Georgie Fame w. Guy Barker Big Band @ Ronnie Scott's - September 7

Georgie Fame (vocals); Guy Barker (trumpet/MD); Nathan Bray, Tom Rees-Roberts, Pat White (trumpets); Alistair White, Barnaby Dickinson, Nichol Thomson, Mark Frost (trombones); Sammy Mayne, Ben Castle (altos); Graeme Blevins, Paul Booth (tenors); Colin Skinner (baritone); Jim Watson (piano); Chris Hill (bass); Jim Mullen (guitar); James Powell (drums) + Zoot Money.
(Review by Lance).
I'd heard Georgie Fame with the Guy Barker Big Band at GIJF back in March at Sage Gateshead and was knocked out. Hearing him again last night in the more intimate setting of Ronnie's was something else again! Wow, by comparision it was like having the session in your living room!
The programme was virtually the same but in this setting it seemed totally different.
After a Basie/Ellington style number with some growl trumpet from Guy Barker, Georgie Fame, with the help of a walking stick, took centre stage to much applause and anticipation - could he still cut it?
He could!
Kicking off with Tubby Hayes' arrangement of Yeh Yeh complete with tenor blast from Paul Booth it was a nonstop roller-coaster ride. Jim Mullen impressed on Blues At the Bull as well as doing some Freddie Greene comping on other numbers.
At 75, Fame's body may be frail but his voice is as potent as ever handling the often complex Jon Hendricks' tongue-twisting lyrics with apparent ease. 
An added bonus was  a couple of vocal duets with Zoot Money - he of the Big Roll Band - and Let the Good Times Roll certainly did roll as did Papa's Got a Brand New Bag which also had Booth and Blevins battling it out on tenor. This really was like being back at the Flamingo in the 1960's.
Solos abounded. Castle, Mayne (I think there's a lager joke in their somewhere!) soared on alto; the ever consistent Dickinson, a master 'bone surgeon and plenty top Cs and beyond from the trumpets.
Surprisingly, possibly because of the confined space on stage, Fame didn't play piano or Hammond but, with Jim Watson to hand, it didn't matter - Watson, Mullen, Powell and Chris Hill were cooking with gas.
Tremendous set that fully deserved the standing ovation.
----- 
Gareth Williams (piano/vocal); Lawrence Cottle (bass guitar); Ian Thomas (drums).
Earlier, the Gareth Williams Power Trio played a short set  that  set the mood for the evening. Williams is an imaginative pianist although, on a session where Georgie Fame was the headliner, he was somewhat brave in throwing in a couple of vocals. Nevertheless, they went down okay and set things up nicely for the main event.
Lance.
PS: Bumped into Cormac Loane on Newcastle's Central Station. He asked me to pass on his best regards to Guy Barker which I duly did. Guy asked me to convey the same back to Cormac. They were both members of NYJO many years back.
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