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

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

Sat 14: The Too Bad Jims @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. R&B.
Sat 14: NUJO @ Venue, Newcastle University Students’ Union. Time TBC. £15.00. supporter; £10.00. standard; £5.00. student. Seated event.

Sun 15: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 15: The Too Bad Jims @ The Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. £12.00. R&B.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Rebecca Poole @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Poole w. Dean Stockdale & Ken Marley. CANCELLED!

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

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

Monday, June 01, 2020

TheShowMustBePaused

The Musicians Union have issued a call for solidarity in the face of racism triggered off by events in America.
Link.

Read more here.

Aussie response.
Lance

2 comments :

Russell said...

In Solidarity

The Musicians' Union is asking that the case of George Floyd - and the wider Black Lives Matter initiative - be at the forefront of people's minds on Tuesday (tomorrow, June 2). As jazz fans - black or white - it will come as little surprise that racism is ever-present in America and, indeed, across the globe. Presidents and prime ministers pedal dog-whistle racist lines with impunity - now's the time (as Bird said) to call them out. If you encounter the 'I'm not a racist but' types give them short shrift. If you don't, you are complicit in the ongoing injustice.

Lance said...

I'm with you all the way on this, Russell, and I'd like to think that every jazz fan in the world is in total agreement. Correction, perhaps I should delete 'jazz fan' and replace it with 'person'.

In theory, the northeast has, on the surface, no obvious racial issues but, go to a football match or a local pub and the racial rhetoric is unbelievable sometimes from, I won't say friends, acquaintances who appear as respectable folk in most other respects. To these people the F word and the N word (often combined in plural) are part of their every day vocabulary. Confront them and they protest, as Russell points out, "I'm not a racist but..." the excuses vary from the "I wouldn't want one to live next door/marry my daughter/teach my kids etc. Sometimes it doesn't even change after "one of them" has saved their life in hospital.

Getting back to America - I'm still trying to work out, not only how Obama became president, but also how Trump succeeded him.

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