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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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, May 29, 2022

Jazz Venues of The Past

Long before my proper jazz days, I remember a jazz club on Monday evenings at the Turks Head pub in South Shields. The pub is long gone and houses stand there now. This must have been many years ago when I was aged about 30, because I seem to remember that the club was full of ‘old’ men and there were many expensive cars, such as Mercedes, outside. Who on earth were these rich jazz people, or did I dream it all?

I knew about the jazz because there was a folk club in the same pub on Friday nights, so I thought I'd try the jazz, which I realised was good music but which didn't quite chime with me in those days.

I don't know who the bands were but it was not the 'trad' jazz of which you heard a lot in those days.

I also remember that there was a trad jazz evening on Sundays at the local Westoe Rugby Club. I went there just a few times in, I think, the 1980s and I was fascinated to see people dancing quicksteps and such to the band.

One night in the early 2000s I bumped into Lance in Newcastle and we went to a jazz venue down towards the Side Gallery. We heard Zoë Gilby who sang impressively. Ann Alex 


4 comments :

Lance said...

As I recall, I think the band at the Turks included Bill Harper and Tommy Moran.

carstairs said...

I came up to Whitley Bay in 1975. I used to go to the High Point Hotel, with Hughie Aitchison and Jim Ruddick in the band I think.
Sometime later Mike Durham's WJRK took over, which prompted me to start playing tuba again, sitting in after buying a big old Conn from America ( in those days it was possible to get it shipped cheaply by surface ). Mike Durham, Bob King, ?Danny Dunbar, Fergus Hope, John Wheatley/Malcolm Moyer, Jimmy Stewart. All gone now.

Bill Gallon said...

1:Golden Lion, Winlaton Mill now called the Red Kite. A good venue on a bus route and a good room. Many memories of Gassie, Ronnie Robinson, Ronnie Mclean and Bill Brooks. It was still active in 1978.
2: Rose, Shamrock and Thistle at Streetgate, Sunniside with the Tyne Valley Stompers with Fred Rowe, cornet; Bill Smith and, on one occasion, a rare visitor from London - Cy Laurie on clarinet. This was back in the days when attendances were high.

3: A personal one for those who were at Gateshead Grammar School round 1951 to 1954. On a Monday evening at 4.00 pm the Head Boy - "Dabs" Walker - held a jazz records session with discussions on records and bands.
This was in the days of Ken Colyer, Chris Barber and Humphrey Lyttelton. Another attendee was Derrick Cogger who went on to play cornet with local bands. Derrick is still seen at venues but sadly all the others can now only be heard on recordings.

Anonymous said...

Yes, Billy Harper was on piano, good pub back in the day. One of my regular sit-in sessions before you guys and the tinternet turned up! P.G.

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