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.

Thursday, October 04, 2018

Milne-Glendinning Band EP launch @ Charts, Newcastle - October 3

Debra Milne (vocals); Steve Glendinning (guitar, vocals); Katy Trigger (bass, vocals); Paul Wight (drums)
(Review/photo of Charts by Russell/Band photos courtesy of  Ken Drew)

Vocalist Debra Milne and guitarist Steve Glendinning's recently formed quartet serves as a performance vehicle for their songwriting collaborations. A recording session produced material worthy of release and this gig at Charts on Newcastle Quayside marked the official launch of their MGB EP. 

Charts, part of the Pub Culture business venture, has been a supporter of jazz from the day it first opened its doors earlier this year. An established weekly jazz jam session, a new blues jam session in the offing, the swish riverfront hostelry proved to be the ideal choice of venue for the occasion.
One change in the line-up - Paul Wight depping on drums - otherwise it was the regular quartet; Milne, Glendinning and bassist Katy Trigger. Show Me the Man sang Milne, the sound balance just right on the mezzanine floor performance space, following up with another original composition (Don't Come Round Here), the title of which wasn't so much an oblique Ellingtonian observation, more a command! No messin'!

Milne's lyrics to a ballad written by piano maestro Alan Glen (Easy Go), a swipe at Trump's hard-core support (Most People) with Glendinning and Trigger taking it out with their effective backing vocals, MGB's first set was a varied affair. 

Another pint of Radgie Gadgie, a look at some of the many artworks adorning Charts' back-to-the-brick walls (including framed LP covers...Miles Davis' Kind of Blue, Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch, Lee Morgan's Sidewinder), and MGB's second set was soon upon us. 

Too Busy for Thinking (a Milne-Bradley Johnston co-composition) resumed matters. Boppish with a kind of Hendricks, Lambert and Ross feel about it, then straight into another Milne-Johnston piece titled Soulmate. Depping drummer Paul Wight set up a Blakey-esque march on Killer Joe, Glendinning killing, Milne scatting, and out. The MGB EP launch evening closed with the familiar Blame Game
Russell.

Photos.

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