Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 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 @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 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

Sunday, September 19, 2021

Musicians Unlimited @ South Durham Social Club, Hartlepool - September 19

At long last, the return of Musicians Unlimited! Same band, new venue. Same crowd plus many more new faces! What's that about folk being reluctant to venture out?! South Durham Social Club on leafy Westbourne Road is the new place. A proper social club - ie don't expect to see a handpull on the bar - offering a concert room stage, things were set fair. 

In the Mood for starters. Don't laugh, Miller handled by a top notch big band can be more than respectable. And this was more than alright! Cue applause, we'd waited so long to hear Teesside's number one big band. One wag wondered out loud: Do you think we'll get a few more bum notes than usual? Not a bit of it, the band sounded just fine, minus one of the reeds...Has anyone seen Sue? quipped MD Mick Donnelly. Tenor saxophonist and ace flautist Sue Ferris had driven to the wrong venue. Arriving at South Durham SC as Major Miller's number drew to a close could be seen as a good move! Ready in a trice, Sue took her tenor chair in time for Blues in the Night

Another wag said: This [South Durham Social Club] used to be a nursing home. Looking around the spacious concert room, quick as a flash a friend offered the observation: There's a few care home clients in here today! 

It was time for the band's vocalist to step up. Singing Cheek to Cheek, Jan Spencelayh nailed it in one. Terrific! It was as if Jan and the band had never been away. Jive at FiveSweet Georgia Brown, yes, Musicians Unlimited are back!

Interval. Raffle time. Your correspondent was a winner! Oh, no he wasn't! The person charged with reading out the ticket numbers got the three numbers in the wrong order...boo! Oh, well, some other time...

Second set. Things Ain't What They Used to Be featuring guitarist Ian Bosworth and Sue Ferris on tenor blowing the roof off. Wow! Bill Watson soloed on On the Sunny Side of the Street, Jan returned to sing The Very Thought of You (excellent) and then MD Donnelly decided to throw a difficult chart at the orchestra. Bassist Mick Shoulder swapped his upright for electric bass and off they went on Gordon Goodwin's Count Bubba. All sections were put through their paces and all notched up A star performances. To close out a first gig in eighteen months, Musicians Unlimited went out on Tito Puente's Oye Como Va. They're back, and they'll be back next Sunday, one o'clock, at South Durham Social Club.
Russell
         
Musicians Unlimited: Mick Donnelly MD; Kevin Eland, Bill Watson, Dave Harrison, Alan Catherall (trumpets); John Day, Dave Brocklesby, ?, Peter Morgan (trombones); Kim Skerritt, Josh Bentham,  Sue Ferris, Barbara Fagan, Jill Nelson (reeds); Ian Bosworth (guitar); Gary Hadfield (keyboards); Mick Shoulder (double bass, bass guitar); John Bradford (drums); Ernie Jackson (percussion); Jan Spencelayh (vocals)

Set list: In the MoodBlues in the NightCheek to CheekJive at FiveWhat a Difference a Day MakesSweet Georgia BrownToo Marvellous for WordsWitchcraftThings Ain't What They Used to BeOn the Sunny Side of the StreetThe Very Thought of YouCount BubbaOye Como Va. 

No comments :

Blog Archive