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

19,057 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 921 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 29) 100.

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

October.

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.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

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: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
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.

Saturday, June 22, 2019

CD Review: Rebecca Dumaine & the Dave Miller Combo - Chez Nous

Rebecca Dumaine (vocals); Dave Miller (piano); Chuck Bennett (bass); Bill Belasco (drums); Brad Buethe (guitar).
(Review by Lance).

Faultless! Once upon a time, this would have had me searching the Dictionary of Superlatives to describe what is a beautiful, swinging album. However, there are just so many wonderful singers rolling off the conveyer belt these days that it is almost impossible to single out any one of them as the best or the worst. If I did that today, chances are that tomorrow the positions would be reversed!

It's a dilemma and yet, it's a most enjoyable one. I'm old enough to remember when jazz vocalists were either Billie or Ella, Anita or Peggy, Sarah or Dinah, Christy or Connor, and a few others. Nowadays,  there are more girl jazz singers than there are stenographers! And, whilst in this overcrowded ballpark, Rebecca Dumaine could be said to have got beyond third base, the pack is still snapping at her heels.

What makes Dumaine stand out for me is the touch of individuality she has. Not individual enough to make her voice instantly identifiable - only the above legends achieved that - but just enough to register that Ms Dumaine is well on her way to finding that voice enabling the listener to say "Hey, that's Rebecca".

With the Dave Miller Combo behind her - surely one of the most swinging combos around, this is as good a GASbook album as you're likely to find outside of the Ella songbooks.
Lance
When in Rome; So Danco Samba; I've Never Been in Love Before; everything I've Got Belongs to you; Chez Moi; I Didn't Know What Time it Was*; Tangerine; Yesterday; You're Getting to be a Habit With Me; Just the Two of Us; Give me the Simple Life; Alice in Wonderland; Do it the Hard Way; I Wish You Love.

*I Didn't Know What Time it Was made me wonder if the singer had been in Newcastle's Central Station? The clocks on the concourse (the traditional meeting place of lovers) have been motionless for weeks. I'd have thought that a railway station was a place where it was essential that the clock showed the correct time. Although, in fairness, if you arrive at 6:47am or 6:47pm you don't have a problem!
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