Bebop Spoken There

Jools Holland (on his 2026 spring/summer tour): ''With the mighty [R&B] Orchestra, our wonderful boogie woogie singers, and the brilliant Joe Webb opening the shows [including Darlington Hippodrome, June 19], we're in for some very special evenings of music.'' The Northern Echo February 5, 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

18263 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 117 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 6), 17

From This Moment On ...

February

Sat 07: The Big Easy @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. St Thomas & Bésame Mucho. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Side Cafe Oᴙkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Table reservations: 0191 477 3970.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Swing Tyne @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations. Swing dance taster class (12:30pm) + Hot Club de Heaton (live performance). Non dancers welcome.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Mark Williams Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington.. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 13: Noel Dennis Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00. Dennis (trumpet, flugelhorn); Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 13: Joe Steels @ 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: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 13: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Fri 13: Tom Remon & John Moriarty @ The Ship Isis, Silksworth Row, Sunderland SR1 3QJ. 7:00pm. £10.00 + £1.00 bf.

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

Photo album.

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