Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18548 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 412 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 19) 66

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

May

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Jazz Classics with Rivkala @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Rivkala (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 21: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 22: Paul Skerritt @ Market Place, Durham. From 12 noon. Free. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £TBC. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.

Sat 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall. 2:00pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 23: Paul Edis @ Core Music, Gilesgate, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00. A Core Music fundraiser, Hexham Jazz Weekender Day/Weekend ticket not applicable. Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sat 23: Blyth Big Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 6:30pm. £9.00., £5.00.
Sat 23: Paul Edis & Friends @ Musicwonders, Church Chare, Chester-le-Street. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £15.00. www.musicwonders.org. BYOB. SOLD OUT!
Sat 23: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Queen’s Hall Hexham. 7:00pm. £13.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sat 23: TC & the Groove Family + Lagos to Longbenton @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sat 23: Davina & the Vagabonds @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £22.00. + £1.50 bf.
Sat 23: Celebrating Wes Montgomery @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 8:15pm. £14.00., £12.00. Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sat 23: Chris Coull’s Porgy & Bess @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 9:30pm. £16.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.

Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 24: SwanNek @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £11.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sun 24: Salty Dog @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free. Donations.
Sun 24: Ben Crosland’s Threeway @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. £13.50 (inc. bf). Line-up inc. Steve Waterman. Hexham Jazz Weekender.
Sun 24: Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Street Brass Band Bonanza: The Fanfare + Storytellers + Tenth Avenue Band @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £10.00., £8.00.
Sun 24: Charlie Parr @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50. Blues. Jumpin’ Hot Club.
Sun 24: Olly Styles Experience @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.
Sun 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 8:15pm. £13.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender. Feat. Jamil Sheriff.
Sun 24: Modern Vikings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 9:30pm. £16.50 (inc. bf). Hexham Jazz Weekender.

Mon 25: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 26: Noel Dennis Sextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00. A Miles Davis centenary concert (Davis b. 26. 5. 1926). Noel Dennis (trumpet); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums). SOLD OUT!
Tue 26: Lagos to Longbenton @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington.
. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Wed 27: Neighbourhood Watch + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00. Rivkala (solo).

Friday, December 18, 2020

How I Became Addicted to Jazz. Miles Watson reflects ...

How did I get into jazz? I didn’t, it somehow got into me. Growing up in the '40s and '50s in a house where the wireless (radio) was always on, the popular music of the day was infiltrating my brain with the dance bands and record request programmes. I first heard Muggsy Spanier, Bunny Berigan and Fats Waller on Forces Requests, the word jazz was never mentioned it was all part of the pop culture.

At the end of the war my eldest brother bought a self-changing radiogram with his demob gratuity and every week would come back from town with an eclectic selection of 78s everything from grand opera to Spike Jones. My favourite pastime was playing the B side of the popular records, Fats Wallers Moppin’ & Boppin’Shortnin’ Bread and Dinah and Pee Wee Hunt’s Somebody Else Not Me, are still fondly remembered.

Saturday evenings in the Men’s Institute listening to the football results followed by Jazz Club with the likes of Harry Parry and Freddy Randall and later in the week listening at home with ear pressed up against the speaker to catch Kenny Baker’s Dozen on Let’s Settle for Music. By then I thought I knew what jazz was all about after buying Rex Harris’ Penguin book on jazz but really the eye opener came on a visit to the Oxford Galleries to hear Freddy Randall who’s 7 piece band just about blew the roof off with not a piece of music in sight.

The direction of my interest was now set for life, listening to local and national bands and record buying. Then the highlight of my life, the appearance of Louis Armstrong at the City Hall. Like a lot of others there that night the hairs stood up on the back of my neck and the 25 bob for the ticket was the best spend of my life. The succeeding concerts by the legends and the newer stars of jazz just embedded the music that far into my soul that even marriage, family, mortgage, work and other interests could never dispel. In my 85th year and as Duke said “Don’t Get Around Much Anymore” my love for the music is still as much alive in me as it was 70 years ago.

Miles Watson

4 comments :

Lance said...

Great stuff Miles and how similar are my own early memories. Louis at the City Hall, Kenny Baker and, like yourself, most of all, Freddy Randall. I was 15 or so and heard the band at Seaburn Hall. I remember Betty Smith on tenor, leaning back on her high heels and blowing some great Bud Freeman/Eddie Miller tenor. Strangely, Betty is rarely given her due when the current in theme - women in jazz - is brought up.

I digress. When I floated out of Seaburn Hall the last buses and trains had gone and I had to get a taxi home which didn't please my parents who had to fork out!

For me the Randall band was the best of the lot. Far more exciting than Humph or the trad/pop bands that followed. Only Alex Welsh compared and his personnel were mainly ex-Randall.

Russell said...

Miles, what's a 'self-changing' radiogram?

Hugh said...

Perhaps one that drops the records sequentially one on top of the other when the previous one has finished playing?

Lance said...

They were popular in the 78rpm era just after the war when electrically powered turntables replaced the old wind-up ones. You could stack 8-10 discs giving you 30+ minutes of music - in theory. In practice it wasn't all that simple. The first record played fine as the turntable had a material surface that prevented the discs from slipping. After that when it was shellac upon shellac the discs did tend to slip. Plus the weight of 7 records on 1 probably caused the turntable to slow down. The advent of the vinyl LP was welcomed by all except those who didn't want to have to buy 8 or 12 tracks in case they didn't like all of them!

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