Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''We knew back in the day that Emmet [Cohen] had it.'' (DownBeat July, 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

18721 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 585 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 18) 49

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

July

Sun 19: Brass Boat Cruise @ Boathouse, Elvet Bridge Jetty, Durham City. Departures at 10:30am, 12 noon, 1:30pm, 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £5.00 (all prices + bf). Durham Brass Festival. Various bands.
Sun 19: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ The Bandstand, The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free.
Sun 19: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town hall. 2:00pm. £7.00 (inc. bf). A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 19: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 19: Michael Young Trio @ Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 19: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 19: SwanNek @ The Bandstand, The Sele, Hexham. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Nomade Swing: Dos Guitars Trio @ Twelve 06, High St., Newbiggin-by-the-Sea NE64 6DR. 3:00pm. Free. Luco Allievi, Alessandro Brizio, Mariano Gallizio. ‘A Journey Through Swing, Gypsy Jazz, Soul & Pop’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sun 19: Dale Storr: The Sounds of New Orleans @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Solo piano. POSTPONED!

Mon 20: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 20: Mejedi Owusu w. Francis Tulip Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00. SOLD OUT!

Tue 21: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Joe Deans.

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 23: Side Café Orkestar @ New castle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Balkan, Hot Club, Klezmer.
Thu 23: 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 24: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 25: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-5:00pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. Cheek to Cheek - Ella Fitgerald. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Costa Café (within Next), MetroCentre, Gateshead. 2:00-3:00pm. Free.

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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