Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18504 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 368 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 7 ) 22

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

May

Mon 11: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 12: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Hey Remember This @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 14: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Philip Larkin’s Jazz Experiment.
Thu 14: Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb country blues.
Thu 14: Solcade @ the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. 7:00pm. EP launch. Rivkala & co..
Thu 14: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.
Thu 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 15: Conor Emery Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Line-up Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 adv., £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Puppini Sisters @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

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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