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

18395 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 259 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 30 ), 69

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

March

Tue 31: Bede Trio @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Albert Hills Wright (alto sax); Finn Carter (piano); Michael Dunlop (double bass).

April

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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.

Tuesday, December 01, 2020

Album review: Kenny Kotwitz & The LA Jazz Quintet - When Lights Are Low

Kenny Kotwitz (accordion/celeste); John Chiodini (guitar); Nick Mancini (vibes); Chuck Berghofer (bass); Kendall Kay (drums/perc.)

Remember Art Van Damme? Remember George Shearing? Imagine Van Damme's accordion replacing Shearing's piano and you've got a fair idea of what this is all about.

A dozen tunes played exquisitely, faultlessly, with Kotwitz - a former pupil of Van Damme's - proving that accordions have their place - we each have our own idea as to where that place should be ...

It's the kind of late night jazz I associate with Las Vegas in the early sixties or maybe the Mocambo or the Stork Club in the 1950s. Black and white movies with tough guys in fedoras, blondes in slinky gowns, Pontiac cars and Lucky Strike cigarettes.

I'm shedding the years, the slinky blonde and I are dancing cheek to cheek this band is on stage, tuxedos and mustaches, playing all these beautiful numbers ... Later I'm in her fancy Park Avenue apartment having a gin and it and I've got my own ideas on what the it will be unaware that she's slipped a Mickey into my drink ... it's The Big Sleep for me and this is, I fear, also what this album will be for most of today's younger jazzers even though the music is impeccable - I'm lucky in that I got in on the ground floor!

Maybe one day sanity will return or I'll hop a flier to tomorrow ...

Lance

When Lights Are Low: Skylark; Cry me a River; Estate Summer; When Sunny Gets Blue; Crazy She Calls Me; Darn That Dream; Harlem Nocturne; Manhattan; Mood Indigo; Polka Dots and Moonbeams; Stairway to the Stars; When Lights Are Low (reprise).

Available usual suspects.

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