Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18504 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 368 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 7 ) 22

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

May

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Hey Remember This @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 14: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Philip Larkin’s Jazz Experiment.
Thu 14: Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb country blues.
Thu 14: Solcade @ the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. 7:00pm. EP launch. Rivkala & co..
Thu 14: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.
Thu 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: 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 15: Conor Emery Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Line-up Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 adv., £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Puppini Sisters @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Mon 18: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Mark Williams Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 19: GoGo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £22.00 + £4.40 bf.
Tue 19: Danny Lowndes’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £5.00 bf.
Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums).

Monday, March 07, 2022

Sunday Night Jazz @ The Globe: Hand to Mouth - March 6

Lindsay Hannon (vocals); Bradley Johnston (guitars)

In the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me, Carly Simon sang Nobody Does it Better. Hand to Mouth didn't sing/play Nobody Does it Better but the audience at The Globe last night most certainly loved them. and, if it had been in their repertoire then the title would have been very appropriate.

Lindsay, booted and mini-dressed atop a barstool and Bradley, suited and slim-jimmed at ground level, gave a performance that was, even by their standards, exceptional. 

From Brad's opening guitar intro to The Very Thought of You through to Lindsay's wistful farewell on Some Other Time the audience were spellbound - no one dared to drop a pin.

The material was, in the main, drawn from the legendary duo albums by Joe Pass and Ella Fitzgerald although Lindsay tends to sound more like a raunchy version of Peggy Lee and there's nothing wrong with that! Brad is like whoever he wants to sound like. On this occasion it was Joe Pass. In his parallel universes he could be Django Reinhardt or Pat Metheny or even himself!

I'm Thru With Love brought back memories of Marilyn Monroe singing it in the film Some Like it Hot - Lindsay got the decision. All Too Soon was followed by I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues with Brad switching to Spanish acoustic.

Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered, then an impromptu Mean to Me with Lindsay delivering a couple of scat choruses before Solitude and I'm a Fool to Want You brought us up to the interval.

Time for a pint of Doom Bar. As the gig featured Hand to Mouth it seemed the appropriate thing to do.

Time for the second set and nobody left. More Ella/Joe with Take Love Easy. Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You and Nature Boy were followed by, what was for me, the highlight of the evening in an evening full of highlights - These Foolish Things, soft and sensuous. Now, hours later, the line 'oh how the ghost of you clings' is still running around in my head. Brad's playing a chordal accompaniment and a bassline simultaneously added to the overall impact.

Come Rain or Come Shine, the inevitable Joni Mitchell number (Blue Motel Room) and, all too soon it, was Down With Love and Some Other Time*.

As I said at the beginning - nobody does it better. Lance

*Some other time at Bishop Auckland Town Hall (March 11) and the Lit & Phil (March 18). Both 1:00pm - 2:00pm.

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