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Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, June 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

17,596 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 560 of them this year alone and, so far, 38 this month (July 13).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Willington Town Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Market Place, Spennymoor, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Trimdon Community College, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Blackhill & Consett Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: NONUNONU @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £11:55 (inc bf).

Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ North Terrace, Seaham, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Knats: Masterclass & jam session @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Rat Pack - Live in Concert @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. A Hoodoo Blues dance class & social. Social & Front Porch Three only from 8:30pm. £5.00.

Sat 19: Streets of Brass @ Durham City. From 10:00am. Free. Various street bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 12 noon. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Bollywood Brass Band @ Monument Metro Station & Haymarket Metro Station, Newcastle. 2:00pm & 3:00pm & 4:00pm (3 x 30 mins). Free. A Gem Arts Masala Festival event.
Sat 19: Diddy Sweg: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 2:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Brazen Brass Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 12 noon. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Party in the Park @ Wharton Park, Durham. 5:00-9:00pm. Free. Ten street brass bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 19: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Chopwell Community Centre. 8:00pm.

Sun 20: Streets of Brass @ Durham City. From 11:00am. Free. Various street bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: Always Drinking Marching Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 11:00am. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: New York Brass Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 1:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: Das Brass: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 3:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Pope/Garner/Byrne/Alderson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 21: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 21: New Century Syncopated Seven @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 22: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

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

Saturday, June 03, 2023

Reflections on N'Warlins

An American work colleague told me she loves the way English people say New Orleans. I’ve adopted – if not an Englishman's - a European’s spelling N’Warlins by Zawinul from a Syndicate cut. The folks  there wish you Happy Festival like we greet each other at Christmas here. The weather reports refer specifically to the Festival.

The first morning we got there early just in case there was any trouble securing passes. All sorted we found a café with four ladies sat outside and occupied the table next to them. Gradually more people arrived and a makeshift bar appeared next to the portaloo we hadn’t previously noticed. Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters album was playing from the café. As the crowds grew a police car arrived and the officer closed the road. An elderly chap arrived with his walker and a bag of weed he’d liberated from his daughter in exchange for three bottles of beer.   

The first day we were there from start to finish but gradually went in a little later each day. Storms on day 2 were all over the news and I thought they may have made the UK news but didn’t. E-Mails home were backed up for a day and the festival opening was delayed by two hours, but the heat remained.

 

Day 3 we went to Congo Square and on day 4 made our first venture into the French Quarter. Bus journeys were like a sitcom and if I didn’t sit with Mrs T some other chap generally would, high fives when he realised we are an item. The bus took us to a streetcar (we desired) which took us to Canal Street where we alighted at Bourbon Street in all its gory.

 

We were warned not to venture there in the early hours but that was never an option - maybe thirty years ago. We criss-crossed it daily, observed the clean-up operation and had a not very good meal there. Music played constantly and most venues had bands changing over regularly throughout the day and night, mostly high quality covers bands with slightly more adventurous repertoires but seldom jazz.

 

We were also warned that Frenchman Street could be sleazy too and more secluded and only wandered up during the day, but at the airport home, heard stories of live sex shows. Maybe thirty years ago.

 

No jazzer is going to miss the Jazz Museum, though probably over-priced at $8. A section on the development of the drum, a section on Kid Ory and lots of pictures of the Festival through the years. I could have spent a fortune in the shop, on CDs, books, T shirts and pictures, eventually coming out with a book on New Orleans Soul – not one of the very biggest cities for soul music but a significant contributor none the less.

 

A cruise up Ole Miss on an old riverboat is essential to any trip to N’Warlins, complete with white Dixie trio complete with all the clichés but man they could play. This was also the scene of my first alcoholic drink since the free bar on the plane out.

 

Much is made of food and drink, especially at the festival, but it seemed more trouble than it's worth, and the vendors seemed to think it was worth a lot. Mrs T is no great foodie and the one occasion we got a meal each, I ended up eating both. I’m assured the ladies' facilities were lovely but the gents were revolting – don’t look down.

 

On the final night we decided to splash out on the most expensive meal we’ve ever had. We found a Cheers type bar in the centre and our very own version of Carla - and a resident jazz group. We had been told it was sax, piano, bass and drums but I'm always pleased to hear a guitarist instead of a piano. Some straight jazz and some mid-seventies Crusaders and instrumental George Benson – they must have known we were coming. Steve T   


ALBUM

3 comments :

Lance said...

I give up Steve - call New Orleans whatever you want to call it. At home people refer to Jarrow and Hebburn as Jarra and Hebbin but that is the local dialect. I'm sure that our tourists (we had three last year) pronounce the names correctly. Irrespective, I've enjoyed your reports from the Crescent City/Big Easy immensely and I'm green with envy (if envy can have a colour) not to have been there.

Russell said...

How many days where you in New Orleans/N'Awlins/N'Warlins/Crescent City/Big Easy before you had a drink?

Steve T said...

I never had a drink at the festival - too hot and too much hassle. A trickster gave me a bottle on the bus (in an attempt to get me in bother) but we couldn't locate a bottle opener so it remained in the hotel fridge when we left. He gave me a can the following night which I drank at the pool. I drank the last two nights - does this mean I'm becoming a grownup.

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