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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

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

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.

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

Tuesday, June 20, 2023

The Chet Set @ Blaydon Jazz Club - June 19

(© Roly Veitch)
Pete Tanton (trumpet, vocals); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums)

1954/2023, a warm summer's evening, sitting on the terrace with a chilled beer, musicians chewing the fat. Familiar faces strolled in, nodding to other familiar faces, the recently refurbished Black Bull as welcoming as ever. Chet's/Pete's trumpet on its stand awaited the arrival of its audience. The Lighthouse in Hermosa Beach is a million miles - metaphorically speaking - from Blaydon-on-Tyne but on a night like this the views from the terrace looking out across the Tyne take some beating. Chet/Pete and the boys sauntered in, the Chet Set was about to begin.

(© Russell)
Chet Baker 'tribute acts' must be ten a dime, in the case of Pete Tanton's Chet Baker homage, our man has one up on many, he's from Alabama, USA! The accent does it, the trumpet playing too, if you're into West Coast cool, Pete's your man. The More I See YouI Fall in Love Too Easily, we were listening to mid-fifties' Chet Baker. Along for the ride (Chet's/Pete's Cadillac was parked up outside the Black Bull) were buddies Alan Law, Mick Shoulder and John Bradford. They ain't American but, being jazz cats, they too possess their share of 'cool'. A short, one verse take on I Get Along Without You Very Well then But Not for Me closed out a fine first set.

(© Roly Veitch)
Let's Get Lost (Alan Law playing typically 'Alan Law' tension and release piano) resumed affairs, My Funny Valentine had to be in the set list and it was. Pete recently confided that until recently he hadn't sung the number in public (excellent trumpet playing on this one). Just Friends summed up the evening. The John Klenner/Sam M Lewis number has been performed countless times at jazz clubs up and down the land, including here at Blaydon Jazz Club. And to close, another chart often played and sung right here in the Black Bull lounge, Look for the Silver Lining. From Roly Veitch (Blaydon Jazz Club) to Pete Tanton, the music of Chet Baker lives on.      
  
The Chet Set has been well received across the region and, with dogged determination and a bit of luck, Pete and the guys could well realise the dream of taking it on the road - London, New York, West Coast... Russell
            
Set list: The More I See YouI Fall in Love Too EasilyThere Will Never Be Another YouYou Don't Know What Love IsMy BuddyThat Old FeelingI Get Along Without You Very WellBut Not for MeI Remember YouLet's Get LostMy Funny ValentineTime After TimeJust FriendsIt Could Happen to YouLook for the Silver Lining. 

2 comments :

Roly said...

For anyone who doesn't already know - the river just here was where Blaydon Island (aka Dent's Meadow) was situated. On this large island was held the Blaydon Races in it's heyday (1861 - 65). The island, along with others downriver at Dunston (Big Annie, Little Annie) were removed by the Tyne Improvement Commission in the 1870s, along with dredging work and 'improvements' to river banks. All for improved navigability to enable heavy goods transportation by bigger boats. The Races were revived up river at Stella Haugh in the 1880s and lasted till 1916. The Commission's work along with the growth of the railways and the building of large timber staiths signalled the end for the legendary keelmen. They had plied their trade on the river for hundreds of years. PS. I've heard there was actually a pub on Great Annie. Presumably drinkers boated across or maybe swam over in their determination to have a nice pint.

Roly said...

To correct myself, the larger island was King's Meadow not Big Annie. The pub on the island was Countess of Coventry.

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