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

Thursday, July 16, 2020

Dan Walsh: LIVE Concerts at Home, Newcastle University - July 16

Dan Walsh (banjo, guitar, vocals)

WARNING! BANJO PLAYERS DO NOT CLICK ON THIS LINK BECAUSE YOU WILL HOY* YOUR BANJO IN THE TYNE (OR NEAREST RIVER)

During the pandemic LIVE in King's Hall concert performances have taken the form of online LIVE Concerts at Home. Today's seventh and penultimate Newcastle University YouTube term time concert presented British banjo virtuoso Dan Walsh in a solo performance spanning some forty five minutes.

Clawhammer banjo specialist Dan Walsh played a hugely entertaining set of tunes mainly on banjo with one blues number on guitar which had a tangential link to the jazz world. Bella Fleck's Big Country got the show under way and what a show it would turn out to be! The Light of Day, the first of several Walsh originals, Plan B, a set of tunes ('jigs', said Walsh),  yes, the man with a nice line in self-deprecation demonstrated his undoubted virtuosity. 

A visit to India inspired a fusion piece - The Whiplash Reel - played on banjo yet sounding sitar-like. Tremendous! This week's King's Hall Concert at Home performer switched to guitar to play Robben Ford's Up the Line. * Jigs, reels, blues and bluegrass, it appeared nothing was beyond Walsh. 

Still a Town (banjo and vocals) referenced Walsh's home town of Stafford. Many other references came easily to the easy-going Walsh; the Coen Brothers, re-runs of Tops of the Pops, gigging in care homes and his time studying on the folk degree course at Newcastle University. Walsh recalled fondly a regular Tuesday night folk session in a Newcastle city centre pub - that'll be the Haymarket on Percy Street, Dan. And with that, a set, or pair, of tunes - Tuesday Night Session - closed a marvellous lockdown session courtesy of Newcastle University.       

* Hoy = to throw.

* It's likely that Dan is unaware that in the 1980s Robben Ford performed at the Newcastle Jazz Festival at Northern Stage (then the Playhouse) just around the corner from the Haymarket pub and but a stone's throw from King's Hall, Armstrong Building (see photo).  
Russell 
at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive