Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 2025).

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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: 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

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Keith Nichols (1945-2021)

Pianist Keith Nichols died today (Jan. 21). A noted authority on ragtime and early piano styles, Nichols was born in Ilford, Essex in 1945. As a young child he played piano and accordion, becoming a national junior champion on the latter instrument. From running bands at school to becoming a world-renowned performer and scholar of 'classic' jazz, Nichols did it all with panache and a great sense of humour. 

To list Nichols' achievements would run to several pages, in summary: student years at the Guildhall, performing with and/or arranging for Digby Fairweather, Harry Gold, the Midnite Follies Orchestra, a first visit to America working with Dick Sudhalter (playing Carnegie Hall), and, one to dine out on, recording an album with Bing Crosby. 

Nichols featured on the soundtrack of Pupi Avaki's 1991 film Bix (alongside other jazz world luminaries including Kenny Davern, Vince Giordano and Bob Wilber) playing the part of Hoagy Carmichael at the piano. Nichol's extensive discography includes many albums recorded for the American Stomp Off label and Cumbrian based Lake Records. In July 2006 Nichols appeared at Sage Gateshead in an ambitious, Arts Council supported, tribute to Paul Whiteman. Keith Nichols' Jazz Artists performed alongside the Northern Sinfonia to a capacity audience. The concert was recorded and issued on Lake Records (cat. no. LACD 245).      

Keith Nichols enjoyed a long association with the north east of England, Tyneside in particular. In the late eighties Mike Durham extended an invitation to Nichols to play a pub gig at the Lonsdale in Newcastle with the West Jesmond Rhythm Kings. The following three decades would see Nichols return time and again to perform at the Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival (Nichols' Collegians, Nichols' Wolverines, Nichols and his Rhythm) and later to participate in, and for a number of years, direct, the International Classic Jazz Party on North Tyneside (one of many memorable highlights being a concert presentation by the transatlantic Nichols-Duffee Orchestra). In addition, Dave Kerr's New Century Ragtime Orchestra would frequently call upon Nichols to join them in sellout concerts throughout the region.         

In a National Jazz Archive interview (www.nationaljazzarchive.org) Nichols said: I got to be a champion accordion player before I gave it up - the devil's music got me in the end at the age of 14. Keith Nichols b. 13 Feb 1945, d. 21 Jan 2021.    
Russell

6 comments :

Brian Bennett said...

So many happy memories of being entertained by Keith. Whether it was the back room of a pub, a jazz festival or concert hall, he was simply brilliant. Supreme musicianship on piano AND trombone. His comical stories and songs were hysterical.
A sad day indeed for the jazz world. RIP Keith.

carstairs said...

What an honour when Mike Durham asked me to be part of the rhythm section of Spats and his Rhythm Boys, lead by the inimitable Keith. With Spats on bjo, grr, uke and vocals,, Pete Soulsby or ,later, Nick Ward on drums, plus Frank Sjostrom on bass Sax we couldn't go wrong following Keith's lead. Quiet, humourous, hard-working ( and quick to modify the chords or routine without putting anyone's nose out of joint ) he was a joy to work with. I shall miss him as a 'real Professor of Jazz' and I am certain many others feel the same?

Anonymous said...

[Tiny point, It's Pupi Avati. See, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0002194/ & https://variety.com/2019/film/news/pupi-avati-il-signor-diavalo-wide-1203219468/]

Brian Chester said...

What a shock when Patti rang to pass on the sad news. Such a fine musician and nice man. I've played and recorded with Keith on many occasions and it was always a delight. He will be badly (and sadly) missed.

David Burr said...

To say this is very sad would be to understate the general sense of shock at the loss of such a talented, influential and good-humoured individual. I spoke to him on the phone early in the New Year and he was characteristically looking forward to presenting a new project as soon as circumstances permitted.
We shall remember him.

Phil Rutherford said...

Such shocking news, the worst. Not just the public loss of a great performer, entertainer, arranger, jazz authority, one of the foundations of the Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival/Jazz Party, but the personal loss of one of the most genuine and generous people in the business, friend, mentor and gentleman. So many happy memories of playing alongside Keith in the West Jesmond Rhythm Kings, the New Century Ragtime Orchestra and at the Jazz Party. How we will miss him. RIP Keith. My condolences to Eve and to all his family and friends.

Blog Archive