Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Colltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18947 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 811 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 28.) 90.

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

September.

Mon 28: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ Hepscott Parish Hall. 7:30pm. . £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Tue 29: Red Kites Jazz @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller's Rest, Cockerton, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. For one week only the rehearsal night will be at the Traveller's Rest (open to the public).
Wed 30: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ The Hearth, Horsley. 7:30pm. £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Wed 30: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 30: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds + Juliana Day & Manon McCoy + Helen Anahita Wilson @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. A BBC Introducing-Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

October

Thu 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Rivkala @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 01: Hot Club de Heaton @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 01: The Scenic Route @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Alison Gill + Markrokosmos @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music (NFOJAIM).
Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Gilby & Hunter + Andy Champion @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. The Abbie Finn Trio augmented by Dean Stockdale (piano).
Fri 02: Alexia Gardner Trio @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 02: Zoe Rahman Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 8:00pm. NFOJAIM. SOLD OUT!

Sat 03: New Orleans Ragtime Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Gavin Lee & co.
Sat 03: Anemone Quartet + Jeepe Zeeburg @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Caravan. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Free. Excellent blues band.
Sat 03: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.50 (inc. bf). Two sets: 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. ‘Swing Band Dance Night’.
Sat 03: Olie Brice Quartet + Alexander Hawkins + Harper Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Heugh Battery, Hartlepool. 11:00am-12 noon & 1:00-2:00pm.
Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 04: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Bill Watson (trumpet).
Sun 04: Sax Choir w. Rachel Musson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Rivkala + Ceitidh Mac + Thatcher & Knowles @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. A NFOJAIM event.
Sun 04: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED from September 27.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.

Monday, June 08, 2020

Let's Hear it For the 'Boys'.

We haven't had any lists for awhile so, prompted by yesterdays YouTube clip of of Johnny Desmond, I thought I'd list my 10 favourite albums by male singers.

The criteria is simple: one album per artist and only albums that have stood the test of time hence no Kurt Elling or Gregory Porter.

In no particular order they are:


Johnny Desmond: Blue Smoke w. Tony Mottolo providing some wonderful guitar backing.
Johnny Hartman: John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. Self explanatory.
Mel Tormé: Lulu's Back in Town w. Marty Paich Octet.
Fred Astaire: The Astaire Story. Fred with JATP.
Woody Herman: Music For Tired Lovers. Woody sings to Erroll Garner's accompaniment.
Tony Bennett: The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings.
Buddy Greco: Live at Mr. Kelly's. Great singing and piano playing.
Nat King Cole: Two Marvelous For Words. Great singing and piano playing.
Joe Mooney: Do You Long For Oolong? Great singing and accordion playing.
Frank Sinatra: Songs For Swinging Lovers - by a short head from a dozen other albums!
Lance.

2 comments :

Steve T said...

Since I don't generally like vocal jazz, I've followed the Sage Gateshead/Camden Jazz Cafe model: Jazz, Blues, Soul, or - if you like - Nicholas Peyton's Black Music.

In alphabetical order:

Captain Beefheart - Lick my Decals off Baby. After the Music of the Millennium debacle on Channel 4 twenty years ago, Ken Clarke got to speak for Jazz and observed Songs for Swingin Lovers and the Captain's Trout Mask Replica were on the margins of Jazz. This was the follow-up and was his and is my favourite of all his albums.

Sam Dees - The Show Must Go On. The ultimate underground Soul Album.

Lamont Dozier - Out Here on my Own. Being part of the most successful songwriting partnership in the history of the American charts has overshadowed his remarkable run of solo albums in the seventies and early eighties.

Marvin Gaye - What's Going On. Many people - myself included - consider this the greatest album ever made. For years now, whenever I've DJ'd, I've played a medley of his choons

Buddy Guy - Breaking Out. Saw him (with Junior Wells) just before and just after this album and they were amazing both times (the first time was on a bill with Albert King and John Lee Hooker) but the transformation on the latter, with his use of a solid body Fender, was stark.

Michael Henderson - Do it All. The bass player who brought the Fonk to Miles with On the Corner made four excellent soul/funk albums in the late seventies.

Luther Ingram - Do You Love Somebody. I've had a thing about (the real) Luther for many years for which I'm medicated. (My brother has Teddy Pendergrass, the great John Lias has Paul Kelly, former DJ and Kane Gang manager Phil Mitchell has Johnnie Taylor and former DJ and Record Shop owner Brian Cade has Bobby Womack - it's a soul thing).

Curtis Mayfield - Back to the World. Will we ever hear his like again?

SinAtra - Songs for Swingin Lovers. With Lance ging for this, I thought about Come Fly with Me or Wee Small Hours, but this is the one.

Sonny Boy Williamson (Rice Miller) - Down and Out Blues. Stands with Muddy and Wolf as the original giants of Chicago Blues.

Roly Veitch said...

Hello Lance
Sorry I can't name ten, I don't have many male vocalist albums but if I can mention two I do have and like very much. Both 'hip song' type singers. Bobby Dorough 'Devil May Care' and Dave Frishberg 'Getting Some Fun Out of Life' - both gems! I don't have Sinatra albums but do feel some of his versions of the Gasbook songs are unsurpassed and also I like Chet Baker's singing. Some do, some don't but I think he was one of the great jazz singers. My mother had many Al Bowlly albums, mostly compilations. I like him too, his recordings with Ray Noble.
And if I can mention an all time favourite male vocal - Jack Teagarden singing 'Stars Fell on Alabama'.
Roly

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