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

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 12: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

Sat 14: The Too Bad Jims @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. R&B.
Sat 14: NUJO @ Venue, Newcastle University Students’ Union. Time TBC. £15.00. supporter; £10.00. standard; £5.00. student. Seated event.

Sun 15: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 15: The Too Bad Jims @ The Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. £12.00. R&B.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Rebecca Poole @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Poole w. Dean Stockdale & Ken Marley. CANCELLED!

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

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.

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

Sunday, December 13, 2020

Francis Tulip Quintet livestreaming from The Globe - Dec. 13

Francis Tulip (guitar); Xhosa Cole (tenor sax); Tuoyo Awala (piano); Louis Stringer (bass); Matt Holmes (drums).

(Photos courtesy of Debra Milne)

I approached with caution, was this going to be a gig of forgettable originals or bland covers? Well yes and no. We had originals and covers but, fortunately, they were neither bland nor forgettable - quite the opposite in fact.

Oh ye of little faith I remonstrated with myself. Musicians don't pick up awards such as the Jazz Performance Prize from the Birmingham Conservatoire (Tulip) or the 2018 BBC Jazz Musician of the Year as well as recently copping a Peter Whittingham (Cole) without deserving it. And, with that kind of quality out front, you need the same clout at the back.

They got it!

As always when watching a live stream from the Globe I get, what Ellington called Blues to be There. Stringer brushed those blues away with his intro to Kenny Dorham's Short Story. A nice groove and good solos segueing into drummer Holmes' Light Music. This wasn't light music at all and was probably one of the more freer parts of the evening.

Don Garcia's Giraffe, as the name suggests was quite an angular number and Cisk, a Tulip original inspired by a Maltese lager, got the adrenalin going and so it should - it's 9%vol - the tune was equally potent!

Invitation featured guitar, bass and drums followed by Trane's Straight Street and the temperature was rising. Benny Golson's Stablemates kept it there before Tulip's own The Brunswick, named after a pub in Derby and said by Tripadviser to be a jewel in the crown of the city. Certainly this tune did it no harm.

The finale aka the encore was Freddie Hubbard's Birdlike. A complex number that seemed to be a mix of fours - except they weren't fours - as all five exchanged with each other both singly and in a vaguely contrapuntal manner. If this had been a live live gig the punters would have been whooping and hollering, stamping their feet and demanding more, more, more. I certainly was although I don't suppose the band heard me (I'm not into hand-clapping emojis)  although I'm sure the neighbours did!

The Jazz Centre of The Globe? You betcha!    

Lance

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