Bebop Spoken There

Jools Holland (on his 2026 spring/summer tour): ''With the mighty [R&B] Orchestra, our wonderful boogie woogie singers, and the brilliant Joe Webb opening the shows [including Darlington Hippodrome, June 19], we're in for some very special evenings of music.'' The Northern Echo February 5, 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

18263 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 117 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 6), 17

From This Moment On ...

February

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. St Thomas & Bésame Mucho. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Side Cafe Oᴙkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Table reservations: 0191 477 3970.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington.. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00. Dennis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 13: Joe Steels @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 13: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Fri 13: Tom Remon & John Moriarty @ The Ship Isis, Silksworth Row, Sunderland SR1 3QJ. 7:00pm. £10.00 + £1.00 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

Monday, January 07, 2019

CD Review: Blue Standard - A Good Thing

Raoul Bhaneja (vocals, harmonica); Jesse Whiteley (piano)
(Review by Ann Alex)

This CD does what it says on the tin and does it well. The proverbial tin says that this is a debut album which was recorded ‘live off the floor with no overdubs’ at Canterbury Music Company in Toronto. Twelve standards, some unfamiliar, chosen because  Blue Standard felt inspired by takes of these songs done by famous names such as Nat King Cole and Chet Baker. Raoul Bhaneja is an actor who sings blues, as well as jazz and Jesse Whiteley, is well known on the Canadian music scene as he comes from a family of musicians involved in roots music, and he has performed with the likes of Clark Terry and Cleo Laine.

We get classic songs done in a stripped down and intimate manner, which especially brings out the meaning of the lyrics, short effective piano solos, and no scat, which I liked, as I believe this should be used only when strictly appropriate. So A Good Thing is full of wry humour as the singer says that he’s glad he didn’t meet his partner when he was wilder in his youth. The well known L.O.V.E. is a chance for the piano to make its mark with a neat key change. A Man Ain’t Supposed To Cry is blues-influenced with a sly piano reference to Cry Me A River and When I Fall In Love is suitably sensitive. Walkin’ My Baby Back Home and When Did You Leave Heaven? are flirtatious, not just the singer, but the piano somehow as well! The other tracks are It’s Always You; You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You; Here’s To Life; It’s A Wonderful World; Teach me Tonight, ending with a lively Crazy Rhythm on which our singer branches out to play a lively harmonica.

I have only one niggling criticism which s that a couple of songs end on a long, loud, strong, high, note, what I call an X-factor ending, (many songs on that television programme end like this) but it’s just a small niggle, and I enjoyed listening to this CD.
The album is available from January 18, 2019. There is a release party at the Jazz Bistro in Toronto on Thursday January 17, 2019, at 8.30pm. I don’t suppose that BSH will pay for me to go, but you never know!
Ann Alex  
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