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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

From This Moment On

April

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

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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