Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,066 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 930 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 31) 109.

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

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

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

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ 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: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Fri 06: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 1/3.
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Jazz Night: Bridget Metcalfe @ Saltburn House Hotel. From 6:00pm. Tickets: £40.00 (inc. a two-course meal & glass of Prosecco). Tel: 01287 658977.

Sat 07: Mike Durham’s International Classic Jazz Party @ Village Hotel, West Allotment. 12 noon. Day 2/3.
Sat 07: Ewan Bleach’s Cable Street Ragtime Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington.
12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Superb band.
Sat 07: Ray Stubbs’ R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 6:00pm.

Tuesday, November 06, 2018

Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party 2018 @ Village Hotel, Newcastle - Nov 2 (afternoon)

Friday, day one proper of the annual festival, got underway with the now familiar Tribute to Mike. Keith Nichols, one of Mike Durham's key allies over many years, led the session with the help of Enrico Tomasso (the trumpeter would be announced as winner of the trumpet category in this year's British Jazz Awards the day after the festival ended), genial American 'bone man Jim Fryer,  festival favourite Matthias Seuffert, reeds, Spats Langham playing guitar and banjo, Frenchman Henry Lemaire playing string bass, and one of the many vituoso percussionists at this 2018 gathering, Nick Ward. 

Riverboat Shuffle rooted this tribute in New Orleans. Up a Lazy River then Spats singing and playing guitar on the Elsie Carlisle-inspired You Got Me Crying Again and the closing number, The Song Has Ended But the Melody Lingers On. 

Teschemacher and Bechet, two icons of the clarinet; first Chicago's Austin High School Gang with the focus on 'Tesch', then Bechet in Europe with Ellington, the latter featuring the singular talent that is Ewan Bleach. The 'Forgotten Saxophone Player' Jack Pettis finally took his posthumous turn in the spotlight courtesy of Michael McQuaid and local star, violinist Emma Fisk, led a Joe Venuti-Eddie Lang/Grappelli-Reinhardt set with 'her Boys' - Spats Langham and Henry Llemaire as the legendary guitarists, supported by Martin Litton, piano, and perhaps the weekend's busiest musician, Malcolm Sked, on string bass. Emma, placed third in the British Jazz Awards' Miscellaneous category, impressed with her to-be-expected flawless performance. 

Fats on Film - Stormy Weather looked at Fats Waller's rare celluloid appearances. Jeff Barnhart is a real entertainer and a band comprising the likes of Duke Heitger, Josh Duffee and Nicolle Rochelle couldn't go far wrong and it didn't. 

Drummer Duffee remained on the stand to close the afternoon session with Jean Goldkette - After Bix (1928-29). Hot jazz dispensed in hot, hot style by the erudite Duffee and his band which included fellow Americans Mike Davis and Andy Schumm, trumpets, and New Orleans pianist David Boeddinghaus. Out front on the floor, three familiar faces to north east audiences - the string players Emma Fisk, Dawn Allen and Kay Usher - did the region proud.      
Russell   
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