Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Geordie Jazz Jam @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Newcastle University jam session. All welcome.
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

Fri 27: Joe Steels Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! A Blue Patch album tour.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Radio Hito + Eddie Prévost, Silvain Schmid & Tom Wheatley @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.22., £10.10., £8.00.
Fri 27: Giacomo Smith w Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (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, September 28, 2020

The Glenn Crytzer Sextet live streaming from NYC: The Courtyard Concert #8 - Sept. 27


Mike Davis (trumpet, vocals); Jim Fryer (trombone); Ricky Alexander (clarinet); Glenn Crytzer (guitar, banjo, vocals); Jay Rattman (bass saxophone); Jay Lepley (drums)

Two thirty in the afternoon in New York,  seven thirty in the evening in Newcastle upon Tyne. 26° in NYC, 8° in Newcastle - where would you rather be? Well, thanks to the musician's new-found friend - the live stream - we were transported for one hour only to the city that never sleeps as band leader Glenn Crytzer presented another in his series of Courtyard Concert sessions.

No. 8 - or should that be #8? - in the series from the alleyway below his NYC apartment featured a fine sextet with a couple of the guys well-known to patrons of Mike Durham's International Classic Jazz Party...Messrs Mike Davis and Jim Fryer. Glenn Crytzer runs a big band in the Big Apple, not exactly the ideal sized unit when hustling for a gig in these pandemic times. So, a sextet it was, and, a few early sound issues aside, this turned out to be a rather good session comprising a host of popular numbers from the 20s and 30s.  

The Charleston, There ain't no Sweet Man Worth the Salt of my Tears (Crytzer taking a first vocal of the afternoon), Doin' the New Lowdown, the first three numbers. A distracting echo on the live stream was soon rectified and from there on in the sound proved to be just fine. In these Covid-19 times Jim Fryer periodically wore a face covering, drummer Jay Lepley donning a mask throughout. Trumpeter Davis (superb articulation) and clarinetist Ricky Alexander were occupied blowing their respective horns, similarly Jay Rattman had his hands full in the engine room wielding his bass saxophone alongside Lepley.

Way Down Yonder in New Orleans took us from New York to Louisiana, Mike Davis sang a verse on Blue River and Crytzer followed up singing Blue Skies. Some numbers are guaranteed winners and Crytzer wisely chose St Louis Blues, it was a winner! The hour was flying by, time for Crytzer to plug his PayPal account: Glenn@GlennCrytzer.com - and look at his phone to see who was tuned-in our man exclaimed: A lotta cats out there!

Time was nearly up, time for Jazz Me Blues (Fryer having a blast, so too Ricky Alexander) then I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover positively motored. A good way to end a session all the way from NYC.  
Russell
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