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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

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

Monday, July 26, 2021

Nishla Smith Quintet & The Tenement Jazz Band @ The Globe Summer Festival - July 25

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)
Nishla Smith (vocals); Aaron Wood (trumpet); Richard Jones (piano);  Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley (bass); Johnny Hunter (drums).

It was almost three years to the day - give or take a couple of weeks - when I first heard Nishla. It was in the old Jazz Café, now the Prohibition Bar, at one of the legendary Tuesday night jams.

Since then, apart from an occasional return to the area, Nishla is now firmly established on the Manchester jazz scene and the choice of her quintet proved to be a fitting finale to The Globe/Jazz Co-op's innovative Summer Festival that crossed the genres and set down the ground-lines for what, hopefully, next year will be even better - tough call!

(Collage by Ken Drew)
Nishla looked great (green is now my favourite colour) and sounded fantastic in a set that had a balanced mix of originals and standards. On the latter numbers, and this is a compliment, there were moments - just the occasional phrase - when I felt that, had Billie Holiday been born in Australia, she may have sounded not unlike Nishla.

Most of the band were familiar faces. Johnny Hunter frequently turns up on JNE gigs (of which this was one) either with bro Ant, John Pope or various bands of his own.

Bassist Joshua Brierley-King currently has an album out which has been enthusiastically reviewed by our Man in Manchester, Mike Farmer and our Man in Morpeth, Dave Sayer. He lived up to their kind words.

Aaron Wood is a new name to me. A trumpet player with that rare quality (these days) of combining lyricism with fire. Remember the name, in years to come you'll be able to say "I was there" whether you were or not!

Richard Jones, no relation to pianist Richard M. Jones of whom legend has it that King Oliver  once said to him "Beat it out in Bb Jonesy" before standing at the door of a "sporting house" in New Orleans and blowing a 12 bar to woo the deserters back to the fold. If tonight's Jonesy had been playing, they wouldn't have left in the first place. 

Friends; Starlight; Blue Dreams; It Might as Well be Spring; Julian; You'd be so Nice to Come Home To; Comes Love; Home; Up.

(Photo by Russell)
Charles 'Chuck' Dearness (trumpet); Lachlan Fotheringham (clarinet, soprano sax); Paddy Darley (trombone); John Youngs (banjo, guitar, vocals); Rory Clark (sousaphone).

Earlier, by way of a contrast, we had a robustly entertaining set by the Tenement Jazz Band from Edinburgh - surely the best 1920s' style band in the whole of the UK and that's the rub. Jazz being, even in this day and age, still very much a partisan thing, one questions the wisdom of a double bill featuring two bands from such opposing ends of the spectrum and I suspect the somewhat select turn out may have deterred the die hards from turning out which is a shame as they missed what was a fantastic two sets from two totally different bands.

There used to be a record label called Good Time Jazz and that is also an apt description of the music played by the band from Rebusland.

They're a sitting down band which enabled me to observe their foot tapping idiosyncrasies. Youngs, Dearness and Fotheringham were mainly southpaws whilst Clark was more ambidextrous with his feet,  stomping on the off beat with his right foot in a sort of syncopated two-step. Trombonist Darley, who appeared to be wearing odd sox, was only an occasional activator of his digital extremities and then, only when the creative juices were flowing from the other end of his body. His Ory-like glissandi would have been a credit to  the Kid himself.  

Just as Aaron Wood would do later with Nishla, so did Chuck Dearness in this set - wax lyrical that is - with a hint of Red Nichols meets Red Allen in his Bixian approach.

Doctor Jazz Fotheringham is always on call when the Tenements are in town and tonight he excelled on clarinet and on soprano.

Clark, making his debut with the band added colour to the gig, not just with his matching yellow sox but with his agility on the sousaphone.

Youngs aided and abetted him in the rhythm section and had a good line in patter between numbers.

Dave Holland's quote could easily have been applied to this set: "I've always enjoyed the joyousness of that music [traditional jazz], and the sound of everybody fitting together beautifully, improvising together." Jazzwise, August 2021. Lance

Dusty Rag; Canal St. Blues; South; Milenberg Joys; Meat on the Table; Chocolate Avenue; She's Cryin' For Me; Blue Drag; Weary Blues; You May Leave But This'll Bring You Back; Bogalusa Strut.

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