Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

June

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Forgotten Ones & Any Quintets.
Thu 25: Edgar Ho Trio @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Brilliant alto sax, piano & double bass trio. Unmissable!
Thu 25: 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 26: Finn-Keeble Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9:00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Clark Tracey @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. £26.00. Day 1/2.

Sat 27: OUTRI @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £13.01. 1:00-1:45pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: House of the Black Gardenia + Magpies of Swing @ The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 2:15-3:15pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 3:45-4:45pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Rory Ingham @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 5:30-6:30pm. £19.51. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Ingham w. Dean Stockdale, Ian Paterson, Dave McKeague.
Sat 27: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 27: Laura Jurd @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £26.00. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Sat 27: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary’s Church, Wooler. 3:00pm. £18.00., £6.00. A Wooler Arts Summer Concerts event. Tim Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: An Evening of Jazz @ St James’ Church, Copper Chare, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 from 01670 788869 or 01670 519923. Mid Northumberland Chorus (MD Robin Forbes, Emma Straughan, piano) w. jazz trio featuring Edgar Ho, Oscar Ho & Dave McKeague & special guest Emily Masser. Performance inc. Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass + George Shearing’s Songs & Sonnets.
Sun 28: Led Bib @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.00., £12.00. JNE.

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Sunday, May 03, 2020

Malcolm Saul, Billy Botto's and Sonny Stitt

Another piece of nostalgia, with this poster from Hilary Say. 

Billy Botto's Club in Byker was one Newcastle's foremost nightspots in the sixties' world of northeast entertainment with music by the Malcolm Saul Trio (Malcom on piano, Derek Dixon on bass and Scotty Adair on drums). 

Away from the club, the band were first call accompanists when JNE booked visiting American artists.
However, I first heard Malcolm at Gateshead Town Hall under unusual circumstances. The Bill le Sage Trio had been booked to back Sonny Stitt but their car broke down in York and  they weren't going to make the gig. 

The hall was packed. Dave Bell suggested the audience adjourn to a nearby pub, which we did.

When we returned Malcolm and his trio were on stage with Sonny Stitt and you'd have thought they'd been playing together as a quartet for years - another memorable moment!

 Thank you Hilary for prompting me to remember this and also for confiding that Billy Botto's was where you met your first husband Mike [Gilby] in 1966.
Lance
PS: It was also the first time I heard The Shadow of Your Smile which will help to date it.
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5 comments :

Patti said...

What a fabulous tale, Lance! I bet the joint was jumping - and the chickens would've been shaking in their baskets. Or maybe it wasn't that posh? But with Sonny Stitt up there - what a night!

Sunday, May 03, 2020 8:09:00 pm
Lance said...

The chickens weren't shaking in their baskets because the concert was held at Gateshead Town Hall and the Saul Trio were commandeered to leave their residency for the greater cause - extra money! As it was a night club they no doubt returned and played till a little later!

Sunday, May 03, 2020 8:22:00 pm
Johnny W. said...

I was one half of singing duo Shirley and Johnny in the 1960's and 1970's. We played at Billy Bottos in Byker. I remember the brilliant band who backed us! One of the best we ever worked with.They also had another club somewhere else (can't remember where it was). We played there also.
Johnny Wheeler

Tuesday, December 01, 2020 1:36:00 pm
Mike Sears said...

In 1967 I was with the Don Smith band at the Oxford Galleries, Bottos was a favourite haunt for us after working. Bunny girls too as I remember.

Friday, February 12, 2021 9:33:00 pm
Anonymous said...

My sister was a bunny girl at Billy Bottos, and I was a croupier for the Bailey Bros. ..Cavendish , La Dolce Vita, and sometimes The Latino in South Shields, boy we had great times then, after work down to the Quay Club till the wee hours and then to have breakfast at Bowers restaurant,All the night staff and some of the artists too would all be there. Wonderful memories especially now I’m nearly 80 and 3000 miles away from home in Canada.

Monday, August 23, 2021 8:16:00 am

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