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

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: The ’58 Jazz Collective @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, West Park, 7:30pm. £7.00.
Wed 18: Brand New Heavies @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Stephen Joshua Sondheim.
Thu 19: FILM: Köln 75 @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £7.00., £3.00. Dir. Ido Fluk. Fictional account of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln concert. A Tyne Valley Film Festival preview screening.
Thu 19: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 20: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Theon Cross + support @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £13.31., £11.16., £9.04. Support set feat. members of balletLORENT’s Creative Studio in association with NYJO.
Fri 20: Groove Crusade @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £32.00.
Fri 20: Joe Steels Group @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £12.00. +bf, £15.00. on the door. A Blue Patch album tour. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 20: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ Riverdale Hall Hotel, Bellingham NE48 2JT. Tel: 01434 220254. 8:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 21: Freetime Old Dixie Jass Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. FODJB (Holland).
Sat 21: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sat 21: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22:Jack Pearce Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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, July 27, 2020

Livestream: Ronnie Scott's Club Quintet - July 27

James Pearson (piano); Freddie Gavita (trumpet); Alex Garnett (tenor sax); Sam Burgess (bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums).

This, the seventh and possibly last, livestream from Ronnie's had the house band in good fettle literally Blowin' the Blues Away. Yes it was a tribute to Horace Silver's famed album although not all the tunes were covered plus a couple of ringers were slipped in.

It didn't matter, the feeling was as much there tonight in Ronnie's as it was when Horace took his boys into the Blue Note studios back on August 1, 1959. Sixty one years to the day before the Ronnie Scott Club reopens its doors to the public.

Despite the omnipresent f/ups of which Facebook is renowned for, tonight was a cracker and even the unexpected stop choruses did little more than act as a mild irritant to what was happening either side of them.

All five were in cracking form and if Horace had been still alive and listening he'd have wanted to take the whole band - well maybe not James - back to NYC.

James Pearson was possibly "Man of the Match" but Alex, Freddie and Chris ran him close and if that looks as though I'm selling Sam Burgess short had I been looking at it on a "pound for pound" basis as they do when judging fighters of different weights then Sam would probably have come out on top! Certainly his solo on the only ballad - Peace - won hands down for emotional content.

But what am I doing? This wasn't a brawl, it was 5 guys making music, not scoring points!

I doubt that I'll ever get to Birdland but, hopefully, I'll sometime in the not too distant future return to Ronnie's and, if these guys are playing, you won't hear me complaining.
Lance

Blowin' the Blues Away; Break City; House of Horace (Gavita original); Peace; Baghdad Blues; Sister Sadie; The Preacher (not from the original album).

1 comment :

Russell said...

Yes, another cracking session from Ronnie's.

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