Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

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, December 18, 2021

Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ GCT - Dec.17

It's your annual treat, the Strictly Smokin' Big Band ushering in Christmas at Gosforth Civic Theatre. The first of two sold out nights (it's a sell out year after year*) made one realise just how much we've missed Michael Lamb's superb big band. The online stream is one thing, hearing the band up close is the real thing. The band assembled on the stage and on the floor, the evening's entertainment got under way with Max from the Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra pad. What a rip-roaring start with Jamie Toms leading the way on tenor followed by Sue Ferris tearing it up on baritone! 

And so to Alice Grace. I Love Being Here with You (the audience reciprocating it's love of the SSBB's star vocalist) sang Alice. What a band! What a singer! Christmas? Bah humbug! Alright, the SSBB at GCT is the sole exception, these guys know how to put on a show - brilliant musicianship, professional presentation with everyone on the premises having a party. Jingle Bells, Silent Night, excellent arrangements, and, to close out the first set, Tchaikovsky's Nut Cracker Suite given a twenty first century big band treatment. 

Second set, We Free Kings, wonderful ensemble work, precision, power, wow! Gordon Goodwin's arrangement of Let it Snow, Chris Walden's arrangement of Santa Baby for the WDR Big Band, Ms Grace simply perfect. At this Most Wonderful Time of the Year it's a joy to sit back, listen and marvel at the magical performance of the Strictly Smokin' Big Band. Top notch soloists pepper the ranks, it would be invidious to single out one contribution, during the evening everyone stepped up to the mark. To close, there was only one number...Alice Grace singing Last Christmas. If you're lucky enough to have a ticket for the SSBB's second night (Saturday 18) don't part with it. You'll love every minute of it!            

* Tickets for next year's Christmas concerts (Friday 16 & Saturday 17 December) are on sale now. Book now at: www.strictly-smokin.co.uk. - Russell
   
Strictly Smokin' Big Band: Michael Lamb (MD), Pete Tanton, Billy Bradshaw, Dick Stacey (trumpets); Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge, Keith Robinson, Steve Summers, Sue Ferris (reeds); Mark Ferris, Keiran Parnaby, Chris Kurgi-Smith, John Flood (trombones); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Graham Don (piano, keyboards); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Guy Swinton (drums); Alice Grace (vocals)

Set list: Max; I Love Being Here with You; Snowfall; Until the Real Thing Comes Along; Jingle Bells; Silent Night; The Nutcracker Suite; We Three Kings; Let it Snow; Santa Baby; Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly/God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen; Ah Got Me Lurve to Keep Me Waam (Geordie, translation not required); I'll Be Home for Christmas; Most Wonderful Time of the Year; Last Christmas.    
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2 comments :

NeilC said...

I attended the second part of the triumph that was the SSBB Christmas show . I cannot comprehend how delighted the band must of been to hear the applause and cheers ringing out after last year's stark streaming show not only at Gosforth but at the Tyne Theatre .

It was just reward for the effort they expend to produce such a brilliant show . I have to commend Michael Lamb for the dedication and sheer hard work he puts into preparing the band I hope nights like last night give the band and himself that glow of satisfaction that says " Man we did a great job."

I know Alice gets a lot of the plaudits but I would like to give a shout out to Guy Swinton whose dexterity bears no comparison juggling the sticks , brushes and mallets often with them gripped in his teeth driving the band forward in the up tempo numbers and showing such subtlety for the slower tunes.

Its hard to pick out a favourite but I am going to opt for Snowfall mainly because it is as evocative as Skating by Vince Guaraldi in purveying the feel of Christmas . Thank you one and all for such a great show.

Sunday, December 19, 2021 9:25:00 am
Russell said...

Well said Neil. Guy is one of the unsung drummers. If you haven't already done so, book now for next year's concerts!

Sunday, December 19, 2021 10:42:00 am

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