Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Stedman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Wednesday, October 21, 2020

Album review: House of the Black Gardenia - The New Lowdown

The albums arrive from far and wide. Across the seven seas and most of the oceans. However, when a locally produced disc shows up, it jumps the queue and, in this case, deservedly so.

HOTBG have built up a following over the past few years drawing in fans from all sides of the jazz divide. Thus we have swing/bop hornmen gelling with a blues mama and a blues papa producing the kind of music that we thought was lost forever.

Most of the numbers were written by Hopper, although Haigh, Rana and Littlefield also chip in. But, here's the beauty, they sound original - and indeed they are - yet they have captured the idiom better than many of the composers who were working that side of the street back in the day!

Rana is the personification of a pre-war jazz cabaret artist, Littlefield sings and plays blues guitar and banjo better than most, the horns bring to mind Red Allen, Vic Dickenson and Albert Nicholas/Coleman Hawkins/Benny Carter, the rhythm  guys don't drop any bombs and the whole shebang could have been recorded in a club in Harlem or maybe down south on Basin St. Instead, it was recorded in Thropton (Northumberland) but, take it from me, close your eyes and you ain't in The Cross Keys! 

If you haven't heard the band live at Sage Gateshead, The Cumberland, The Globe or any of the other venues where they are still rebuilding the house afterwards then your education has been sadly neglected making this an even more essential purchase.

To say "Highly recommended" is the understatement of the year!

Lance.

Release date Oct.31.

Russian Caravan; Deadman Calypso; Graveyard Shift; Big Big Man; Yes She Do, No She Don't; Picture Message Blues; Ain't It Hard; Once in a Million; Tell Lies About Me; Viper Mad; Showgirl; Baby Don't Tear My Clothes; Weed Smoker's Dream.

Neil Hopper (bass/sousa/washboard); Elise Rana (vocals); Kit Haigh (drums/perc/guitar/vocal); Michael Littlefield (guitar/banjo/vocals); Keith Robinson (saxes/clarinet/flute); David 'Showtime' Gray (trombone); Michael Lamb (trumpet); Katya Roberts (violin); Ben Imrye (piano/vocals) + Kieran Parnaby (trombone on 4 tks).

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1 comment :

Nonsociopath Skin said...

Just caught up with this excellent band and love the album. Their Bandcamp single "Ghosts" - out today - is also well worth a listen.

Saturday, June 19, 2021 4:41:00 pm

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