Total Pageviews

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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Hopper-Watson Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £10.00. + £1.00. bf.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 10: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Soloists, Orchestras & Hot Fives.
Thu 10: Side Café Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 11: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00. A Bishop Auckland Jazz promotion. New venue (second Friday in the month)!
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Beehive, Earsdon NE25 0SZ. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Fiona Finden Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewery, North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

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.

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, November 13, 2023

The Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hotel, North Tyneside - Nov. 4 (afternoon)

Saturday's programme began earlier than in previous years. Friday's late night jam session didn't deter festival-goers from making an early Saturday morning trip to the 'flicks'. At 10:00am Doc Bastide presented the second of three film screenings and the 'cinema' (actually a small meeting room) was full to capacity to see - and hear - Louis Armstrong on screen.

At noon Martin Wheatley looked at Jack Hylton's output during 1921-23 in a set titled Jack Hylton - the Early Years . Assisted by yet another star-studded line-up, including Jan Kaiser and Torstein Kubban, trumpets, the elegant trombonist Alistair Allan, local heroes Emma Fisk, violin, and Phil Rutherford, tuba.

Glenn Miller's Small Band - the Uptown Hall Gang wasn't merely 'the music of', rather a more focused presentation featuring small combos from within Miller's wartime band and their radio broadcasts. Pianist Martin Litton did the research, duly presenting a most entertaining hour-long programme with trombonist Dan Barrett centre stage.

Caribbean Clarinets did what it said on the tin. Michael McQuaid looked at largely forgotten names of the instrument, including Alexandre Stellio and Eugène Delouche, both from Martinique, although generations apart. The musicians on stage with McQuaid included Martin Wheatley (banjo, guitar), himself a keen student of the music. Roy Eldridge afforded Enrico Tomasso the opportunity to blow some red hot trumpet 'Little Jazz' would have been proud of. Heckler's Hop - Young Roy Eldridge swung and roared,  Tomasso ably assisted by the reeds of Richard Exall, David Horniblow and Mauro Porro, pianist Martin Litton, string bassist Richard Pite and ace American drummer Josh Duffee. A cracking set.

The afternoon's set piece occasion ensured all seats were occupied, no one, but no one, wanted to miss this one. Italian star Mauro Porro led an all-star ensemble in an hour long performance of Cotton Club Ellington. The set list for Ring Dem Bells - Duke Ellington 1929 - 31 was based upon the arrangements of Claus Jacobi and the much-missed Keith Nichols. Magisterial, swinging, this Ellington set would vie for the highlight of the weekend. It's worth noting all participants: Torstein Kubban, Mike Davis, Malo Mazurié (trumpets), Graham Hughes and Dan Barrett (trombones), David Horniblow, Matthias Seuffert, Claus Jacobi (reeds), Mauro Porro (piano), Josh Duffee (vibes), Félix Hunot (banjo, guitar), Henry Lemaire (string bass), Nick Ward (drums), Nicolle Rochelle (vocals). A truly memorable occasion.

Souvenirs of A.B - Arthur Briggs & Al Bowlly  contrasted sharply with what had gone before, but none the worse for that. In the early twenties Arthur Briggs was working in Europe, Al Bowlly in Africa and Asia. They joined forces in Berlin during 1927 and it was this period which inspired Claus Jacobi to present a half hour programme drawn from their collaboration. Imagine Frenchman Malo Mazurié Briggs and, of course, Spats Langham as Bowlly. It worked well. 

To close the afternoon's entertainment, we were treated to a most welcome CJP first, the 'first' being Cia Tomasso leading a set. In fact, singer Cia co-presented I Hear Music - Billie in the Late 30s alongside her father, Whitely Bay veteran, trumpeter Rico Tomasso. The impressive Lorenzo Baldasso sat in the reeds, pianist David Boeddinghaus, who knows a thing or two about Billie Holiday, was on board, the French pairing of guitarist Félix Hunot and bassist Henry Lemaire were nothing short of tremendous, the whole thing topped off by drummer Josh Duffee. Cia Tomasso is one to watch and hear, that's for sure. Russell 

No comments :

Blog Archive