Bebop Spoken There

Joe Alterman: ''All I wanted to do growing up was to sound like Erroll Garner playing "Poor Butterfly." I thought that was the coolest sound I'd ever heard.'' (DownBeat November, 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

19,057 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 921 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 29) 100.

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

October.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Monday, November 07, 2022

Sunday Night @ the Globe: Jo Harrop and Jamie McCredie - Nov. 6

(© Debra Milne)
Jo Harrop (vocals); Jamie McCredie (guitar).

The room was crowded. Theatre style seating at the front, cabaret style further back. All were occupied. I bagged a chair at the last table any latecomers had to stand - that's how popular this gig was, and deservedly so.

I've waxed eloquently over these two artists many times over the years both as a duo and individually and tonight, as always, they lived up to and maybe even exceeded my expectations.

Jo, perched atop a bar stool, Jamie, closer to Mother Earth, gave us a well-balanced mix of standards and originals from her various albums plus a tantalising glimpse of a new album in the form of Burton Lane's Too Late Now which was originally sung by Jane Powell in the film 'Royal Wedding' which, by sheer coincidence is being shown on Talking Pictures as I type (9:30am-11:20am). It's the film where Fred Astaire dances on the ceiling and he and Powell duet on what, at the time, was the longest title ever (it may still be) - How Could You Believe me When I Said I Loved You When You Know I've Been a Liar All my Life?  However, by the time you read this it will probably be 'too late now' to watch the film.

It, Too Late Now, is a beautiful song and Jo gives it just the right amount of emotion aided and abetted by Jamie's empathetic accompaniment.

What a Little Moonlight Can Do had the audience oo-oo-ooing rather like they're incited to do on Minnie the Moocher which, I'm pleased to say isn't in this duo's repertoire!

Of the originals, Red Mary Janes and a Brand New Hat is a favourite of mine but in truth they are all good songs. Jamie's solo feature Night Butterfly went down well. He gets a great, almost unique sound.

I left on Billie's Blues, a song that Jo has probably sung more times than Ms Holiday herself ever did. My departure was no reflection on the performers but trains and boats and planes, not to mention buses, wait for no one. To misquote from the number that closed the first set - it had all been fine and dandy - come back soon. Lance

KEN DREW's PHOTO ALBUM.

I Ain't Got Nothin' But the Blues; What the Heart Wants; Home; Too Late Now; Lover; Night Butterfly; I Think You'd Better Go; Fine and Dandy; Red Mary Janes and a Brand New Hat; You Must Believe in Spring; Charade; Only Spring Will Decide; What a Little Moonlight Can Do; In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning; I Want a Little Sugar in my Bowl; Take it With me; Guilty/ Billie's Blues.

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