Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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

April

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

Central Bar Quintet plays Miles Davis' Workin' @ Central Bar, Gateshead - May 9

Pete Tanton (trumpet, vocals); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + Abbie Finn (drums); Tom Parry-Jones (drums)

A select crowd assembled on Half Moon Lane to listen to the Central Bar Quintet play the music of Miles Davis' mid-fifties quintet, often described as Davis' first great quintet. The 1956 Prestige album Workin' took centre stage, Pete Tanton charged with the responsibility of 'playing Miles'. Aiding and abetting the genial Tanton were Harry 'John Coltrane' Keeble on tenor sax, and the established house trio of Alan Law, piano, Mick Shoulder, bass, and drummer John Bradford.

The Theme opened the evening's concert set. The quintet finely balanced, Tanton tightly muted. It Never Entered My Mind (Keeble out), a knockout solo from pianist Law on Four, drummer, and MC, John Bradford soloing on Dave Brubeck's In Your Own Sweet Way, this was great stuff. Time to go to the bar then flip the vinyl for side two (the second set).      

Side two: the horns - Tanton and Keeble - blew as if Miles and Trane on Trane's Blues, the Central Bar Quintet well and truly into it. Keeble stepped aside for Alan Law's feature on Ahmad's Blues (Ahmad Jamal), bassist Mick Shoulder soloing as if Paul Chambers! To close, Miles' (Eddie Vinson's) Half Nelson. It had been an excellent recital/recreation/exploration of Workin', one of the Central Bar's best sessions yet. 

The recent run - and oddity - of horn-less jam sessions continued here in Gateshead with just two sitters-in, drummers both. First up, Abbie Finn. Any gig, any jam session, whatever the context, Finn is your woman. And the other drummer in the house, Tom Parry-Jones, impressed, fitting in nicely. Our medical student (what is it about medics and music?) is going to be an asset to the Tyneside jazz scene for the next few years. Check him out. From Miles to Pete Tanton, trumpeter and vocalist, we heard verse and chorus on But Not for Me and Just Friends. It had been an enjoyable concert performance and jam session. June's Central Bar session promises to be a good one, the principals (alto sax and guitar) to be confirmed (Monday 13 June). Russell       
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