Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer. SOLD OUT!
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Thu 30: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: International Jazz Day & JANE AGM.
Thu 30: Duke Junction @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Jeff Hewer (guitar); Martin Longhawn (organ); Steve Hanley (drums). An International Jazz Day event & the 12th anniversary of Newcastle Jazz Co-op acquiring the Globe!

May

Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 01: Bede Wind Band + East Coast Swing Band @ Cullercoats Methodist Church. 7:30pm. £10.00. Tickets from: www.ticketsource.com, members of Bede Wind Band & at the door. Memorial concert for Anne-Marie Purvis, who was a member of both ensembles. All proceeds to Tiny Lives Trust.
Fri 01: Louis Louis Louis @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.

Sat 02: Midnite Follies Orchestra @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £20.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. All-star line-up.
Sat 02: Knats Masterclass & Jam II @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00-3:00pm. £15.00.
Sat 02: Shannon Pearl + John Pope & John Garner @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf. ‘Witch-pop’ + Pope & Garner.
Sat 02: Knats + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 03: Chilcott Jazz Mass @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 9:30am. Free. Sung communion with Parish Choir (featuring Bob Chilcott’s music). A Jesmond Community Festival event.
Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 03: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Mark Toomey (alto sax).
Sun 03: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: Tom Waits for No Man @ Oxygenic, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm (2:30pm doors). Neckties and Boxing Gloves album launch. £14.00 (gig & a CD); £8.00 (gig only).
Sun 03: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 03: John Pope & John Garner @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.

Sunday, May 08, 2022

Jeff Barnhart's Mr Men @ Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club - May 7

Jeff Barnhart (piano, vocals); John Hallam (tenor sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Keith Stephen (banjo, guitar); Bruce Rollo (string bass)

The last time the Mr Men played together was at St Augustine's and that was back in May 2019. Earlier this week Jeff Barnhart flew in from America for a first visit to these shores in a long while. He'd been looking forward to meeting up with the boys - John Hallam, Keith Stephen and Bruce Rollo - to catch up and play a few tunes. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club's loyal audience turned out in force, a makeshift kitchen dispensing coffees and teas doing good business with the bar open for alcoholic beverages. In some ways it was as if the last two years hadn't unfolded in the way they did. All seemed (relatively) well with the world.
The Mr Men are consummate professionals, casually picking up where they left off. Jeff Barnhart thought Harold Arlen's As Long as I Live summed up our lives - survivors, gathering together to listen to some jazz. Over the course of two sets there'd be some Jelly Roll, some Ellington and much more. There is No Greater Love featured John Hallam on tenor sax (throughout the afternoon Hallam would switch from tenor to baritone sax, clarinet and back again) and some terrific stride piano by Barnhart. Hallam on baritone resulted in a marvellous take on Bechet's Si Tu Vois Ma Mère and the first set closer heard more baritone, Keith Stephen on banjo and a Barnhart vocal on Dream Man.

Messrs Hallam, Stephen and Rollo remained at the bar as Barnhart opened the second set with a request, High Society as a solo piano piece. Marvellous. Reluctantly or otherwise, the gentlemen of the orchestra reassembled to play a hot Fine and Dandy. Fine and dandy, indeed! A rash of Ellington - Hush-a-bye and I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart - brought out the best in the Mr Men, similarly Pee Wee's Blues (Hallam blowing clarinet with sensitive solos all round). More Ellington - Doin' the Crazy Walk (Hallam on baritone), Mr. Gentle and Mr. Cool, and before we knew it, the three o'clock finish had been and gone. Barnhart wanted to play one more, Hallam suggested Bye Bye Blackbird. Until the next time, gentlemen. 

Next month at St Augustine's (Saturday 4 June) it's Alligator Gumbo. Russell

          
Set list: As Long as I Live; Blue Blood Blues; There is No Greater Love; Do Nothin' Til You Hear from Me; Sweet Georgia Brown; You're Driving Me Crazy; Si Tu Vois Ma Mère; If I Had You; Dream Man; High Society; Fine and Dandy; Hush-a-bye, Baby Mine; I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart; Pee Wee's Blues; Indiana; Doin' the Crazy Walk; Mr. Cool and Mr. Gentle; Bye Bye Blackbird.
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