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

18383 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 247 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 17 ), 57

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

March

Mon 30: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 30: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 31: Bede Trio @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Albert Hills Wright (alto sax); Finn Carter (piano); Michael Dunlop (double bass).

April

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Review: Midweek Mini Edis - April 29

After six weeks of YouTube Fridays pianist Paul Edis picked up the remote and switched channels to see what Facebook had to offer by way of live stream gigs. Wednesdays at six o'clock seemed as good a time as any to present a short (twenty minutes or so) online gig. 

Digital events are fraught with dangers, such as the screen freezing from the off and, for your reviewer, that's precisely what happened. The jazz grapevine suggested others experienced intermittement interruptions, some stuck with it. Later in the evening - eight o'clockish - your reviewer tried again. Success! Pianist Edis singing Frank Loesser's I've Never Been in Love Before began the promised short programme. Excellent. Jobim's Wave followed, things were going well, then...mid-tune, the screen froze. Arrrgh! 

One last try. This time four numbers; the aforementioned Loesser and Jobim compositions plus two others made for an uninterrupted Facebook twenty minutes. A captiviating, inventive right hand introduced Body and Soul and this Facebook 'taster' gig concluded with Bird's chaser Scrapple from the Apple

A digital performance platform is far from ideal but in the current circumstances we can live with it until we get back to the real thing.   
Russell

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