Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Thu 29: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 35s only. Rescheduled from December 4th.
Thu 29: Oh No Noh + Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £16.45., £13.28., £12.22., £9.04. Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: TBC.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Sunday, September 09, 2018

Jeff Barnhart & Tom 'Spats' Langham @ St Augustine's, Darlington - September 8

Jeff Barnhart (piano, vocals); Tom 'Spats' Langham (banjo, guitar, vocals)
(Review by Russell)
Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club is on a roll. A return visit by American piano virtuoso Jeff Barnhart working with Tom 'Spats' Langham attracted a record attendance to St Augustine's. 

The affable Barnhart thought it appropriate that their first number should be All Alone... all alone in a standing-room-only hall of more than one hundred jazz fans! The equally affable and virtuosic Spats Langham entertained the audience with tales of prodigious drinking sessions working with Tommy Burton in the days of Pebble Mill at One - somehow the band always came up with the goods in front of the watching millions!


No fewer than four Irving Berlin numbers opened the programme -the aforementioned All Alone; I Love a Piano; After You Get What You Want, You Don't Want It and How Deep is the Ocean - interspersed with Barnhart's recollections of first meeting a then younger Spats at Bude Jazz Festival...Spats just happened to be wearing a traffic cone on his head!   

Barnhart claimed to be a little bit rusty when it came to playing 12th Street Rag suggesting the duo would play it 'largo' rather than, as indicated on the sheet music, 'presto'. The jovial American began 'largo' but we knew he was kidding...bang! Off they went - 'presto' alright - Barnhart at St Augustine's piano, Langham brilliant on banjo. For the benefit of BSH's Editor-in-Chief, that's 'brilliant' and 'banjo' in the same sentence!

Tunes associated with the likes of Armand Piron's New Orleans Orchestra, Ukulele Ike (aka Cliff Edwards) and Al Bowlly further entertained the lunchtime gathering. Jelly Roll Morton could hardly be excluded and he wasn't, and, with Spats Langham revving the motor for a quick getaway - an evening gig in the Cotswolds beckoned - the duo went out on a red-hot Stompin' Em Down followed by a take-it-down I'll See You in My Dreams. Yes, Darlington is on a roll and the next installment is this Saturday (Sept. 15, 12:30pm) when Barnhart makes a double quick return to present his one-man Silent Comedy Film Festival. Our  American guest will play piano improvisations as accompaniment to the screening of some classic Buster Keaton silent films.   
Russell
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