Bebop Spoken There

Emma Rawicz: "In a couple of years I've gone from being a normal university student to suddenly being on international stages." DownBeat January 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

18219 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 73 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 24), 73

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 30: Pete Roth Trio @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Feat. Bill Bruford.
Fri 30: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Fri 30: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Northern Edge Coffee, Silver St., Berwick. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Dan Coulthurst Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00 + £1.00. bf (www.wegottickets.com). Coulthurst (trumpet); Joel Steadman (bass clarinet, flute); Nico Widdowson (piano); Fergus Quill (double bass); Theo Goss (drums).

Sat 31: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 31: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

FEBRUARY 2026

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet + guest Bill Watson (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Annie & the Caldwells @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. adv. Gospel/soul.
Sun 01: Jive Aces @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sun 01: Olly Styles Experience + Jenny Baker @ the Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject:Times of the Day & Trios.
Thu 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Special guest Emma Wilson.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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

Saturday, July 03, 2021

The Blind Pig Blues Club presents Michael Littlefield & Lee Bates @ Prohibition Bar - July 2

It had been a while since the Blind Pig Blues Club put on a show. This evening, the main men - Michael Littlefield and Lee Bates - decided to play one solo acoustic set each. As Littlefield took to the stage, Prohibition Bar was rather quiet. A first bottle of 33, the house beer (a pale ale), and we were ready to go.      

Michael Littlefield (guitar, vocals)

Opening with Jimmy Rogers' 1950 recording That's All Right, King Bees' frontman Littlefield said he'd been learning some new material during lockdown. Later, we would hear some of it. Jimmy Reed's You Got Me Dizzy, a brace from Robert Johnson - Kind Hearted Woman and 32-20 Blues - to Riley Puckett's old timey Can't Put That Monkey on My Back, it was clear a prolonged period of inactivity hadn't impaired Littlefield's abilities - voice spot on, ditto guitar. 

Sit Down Baby (Otis Rush), Make Me a Pallet on the Floor (the late Dave Rae, of Rae Bros NOJB fame, sang a great version of the tune), slide time on Dust My Broom to Poor Boy, Long Way from Home, this was great stuff. A calypso - Bally Mena - mixed it up, earlier Jelly Roll Morton's Why? did just that, adding an element of ragtime and classic era jazz to the mix. 

That's All I Need (Magic Sam), It's a Sin to Tell a Lie, Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop, without question, Michael Littlefield is back firing on all six cylinders!  
  
Lee Bates (guitar, vocals)

How to follow that? Well, there's no one better equipped than the Blind Pig Blues Club's co-founder, Lee Bates. In addition to playing and singing the blues, LB has a string of one-liners in his back pocket. Choice material and hugely entertaining, that's Lee Bates. 

Bo Carter's Old Devil, Josh White's Broad Players Blues, Skip James' If You Haven't Any Hay, Don't Get on the Road, Bates is a serious student of the blues. Blind Boy Fuller's Funny Feeling Blues, Blind Blake's Skeedle Loo Doo Blues (Bates confessing: I can't get anywhere near [Blind Blake's version]), the hour flew by. It had been an evening of top class blues performed by two canny, seriously talented, blokes. 

Michael Littlefield will be back in action on Sunday with the  House of the Black Gardenia. The Globe (Newcastle Jazz Co-op) is a sell out for the band's eagerly anticipated set but there is an online streaming option. Visit: www.jazz.coop.

Next month's Blind Pig session (Friday 6 August) presents the King Bees (feat. M. Littlefied, guitar & vocals). If you're yet to hear the band, get on down to Pink Lane, they're the business! And Lee Bates returns to Prohibition Bar with his band Struggle Buggy on Friday 3 September. Russell            
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