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

18504 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 368 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 7 ) 22

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

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Hey Remember This @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 14: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Philip Larkin’s Jazz Experiment.
Thu 14: Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb country blues.
Thu 14: Solcade @ the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. 7:00pm. EP launch. Rivkala & co..
Thu 14: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.
Thu 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: 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 15: Conor Emery Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Line-up Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 adv., £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Puppini Sisters @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Mon 18: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Mark Williams Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 19: GoGo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £22.00 + £4.40 bf.
Tue 19: Danny Lowndes’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £5.00 bf.
Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums).

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Jazz at Lincoln Center: Voices of Freedom - Mar. 26

(Screenshot by Russell)
Betty Carter Billie Holiday Abbey Lincoln Nina Simone

A celebration of four iconic figures presented by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. At intervals three singers would join the ensemble during a performance of some fifty minutes. Trombonist Chris Crenshaw assumed the role of MD and 'scriptwriter', the orchestra's personnel remarkably stable over a decade and more. 

(Screenshot by Russell)
This was the orchestra's first performance at the prestigious New York City concert hall since February 2020, a venue Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO like to call 'The House of Swing'. Live streaming to upwards of seven hundred online patrons, Melanie Charles was the first of three vocalists to join the band. Backlash Blues as sung by Nina Simone, arranged for Ms Charles by trumpeter Marcus Printup, with Ted Nash, tenor sax, featuring in an exchange with Printup. 

(Screenshot by Russell)
Betty Carter's Droppin' Things (arr. Crenshaw) brought Ashley Pezzotti to the stage. Emotive, bold, Ms Pezzotti is likely to be able to handle operatic material. The third of the evening's vocalists, Shenel Johns, sang Freedom Day, as performed by Abbey Lincoln on Max Roach's We Insist! album. Ms Johns impressed, big time! 


The band (all chairs occupied by stellar musicians) didn't get much of an opportunity to stretch out, but, what a band! A muted Marsalis momentarily growled, Victor Goines did have a blow, and drummer Obed Calvaire, surrounded by reams of sheet music, briefly broke free to craft a fine solo. Wynton Marsalis, the driving force behind the LCJO, arranged Strange Fruit for our three vocalists. It proved to be an uplifting experience as Marsalis' arrangement, perhaps inspired by Mingus' Fables of Faubus, presented an interesting reading of Billie Holiday's historic song. Russell
                                   
Melanie Charles, Shenel Johns, Ashley Pezzotti (vocals); LCJO: Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Printup, Kenny Rampton, Ryan Kisor (trumpets); Walter Blanding, Sherman Irby, Ted Nash, Paul Nedzela, Victor Goines (reeds); Chris Crenshaw, Vincent Gardner, Elliot Mason (trombones); Dan Nimmer (piano); Carlos Henriquez (double bass); Obed Calvaire (drums)
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