Bebop Spoken There

Warne Marsh: "At some point, you have to be prepared to create—to perform. It's vital, man, if we're talking about jazz, the original jazz, the performing art. It fulfils its meaning only when you play it live in front of an audience." DownBeat January 1983.

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

18191 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 45 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 14), 45

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: Homer’s Lane + John Garner & John Pope @ St John’s Church, Riding Mill. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. Gabriele Heller’s audio play + Garner & Pope.
Sat 17: Martyn Roper @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 5:00pm. Free. Roper’s ‘One Man Blues Band’.
Sat 17: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Alexia Gardner Trio @ FIKA Art Gallery, Morpeth. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). Gardner, Alan Law & Jude Murphy.

Sun 18: Louis Louis Louis @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 2:00pm (doors). £15.00. Swing, jump jive, rhythm & blues. Fundraiser for St Oswald’s Hospice.
Sun 18: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Rod Sinclair.
Sun 18: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Herdman-Strong Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence, Paul Grainger, Joe Deans.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: 2025 obituaries.
Thu 22: Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Thu 22: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta. @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm (doors). £6.50 (inc. bf).

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

Monday, June 05, 2023

Swinging at the Cotton Club @ The Fire Station, Sunderland - June 4

The Fire Station is on something of a roll. A regular programme of jazz concerts across the spectrum is clearly paying dividends. This evening 'Harry Strutter' was in town with his Hot Rhythm Orchestra performing alongside the ever-energetic Lindy Hop Dance Company. Orchestra and troupe would win a standing ovation from yet another large turn out here on High Street West. 

The Hot Rhythm Orchestra has been on the go for decades, long before some in the audience were but a twinkle in the eye. The programme familiar, the musicianship of the highest order, Lee Payne's eye-catching tap routines, the Lindy Hop guys and gals hoofing it, it all adds up to a winner. Exactly Like You, Black Beauty, Andy Woon's front-of-stage trumpet feature on Stardust, there was something for everyone. 

Dressed in an outrageous zoot suit number (making the late George Melly's wardrobe look positively sober), MC and vocalist Megs Etherington kept the show moving along. American singer Marlene Hill sang GASbook numbers (Bill Bailey, Willow Weep for Me), show/film tunes (Stormy Weather), a gospel number, alternating with the Lindy Hoppers' exhausting routines. The boys in the band got the opportunity to play - C Jam Blues, Happy Feet, Hill vocalising on Creole Love Call - and that most elegant of pianists, Martin Litton, briefly took centre stage playing Jelly Roll Morton's Grandpa's Spells. 

The Fire Station is putting bums on seats, what's more, it's all good stuff. More jazz to come? Yes, the cookin' Hammond organ James Taylor Quartet will be there on June 16 and in July (Friday 21), the region's very own Strictly Smokin' Big Band with Alice Grace will be playing Ella and Ellington. Book now at: www.sunderlandculture.org.uk. Russell        
           
Harry Strutters' Hot Rhythm Orchestra: Megs Etherington (MC, vocals); Marlene Hill (vocals); Andy Woon (trumpet); Tony Carter (alto sax, clarinet); Chris Macdonald (alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet); Paul Taylor (trombone); Martin Litton (piano); Maurice Dennis (banjo, guitar); Allan Sokell (sousaphone); Graham Collicott (drums) + Lee Payne (tap dance) & the Lindy Hop Dance Company 
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