Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

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.

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

Thursday, December 07, 2023

Top Ten archival albums.

This year has, once again, unearthed many gems from within various vaults and dusty cellars. These are just some of them and for me to rate them like a top twenty chart is ludicrous! Nevertheless, here I go with the proviso that had I to do it again tomorrow it would be totally different!

1: Sonny Stitt - Boppin' in Baltimore (Jazz Detective)

2. Ahmad Jamal - Emerald City Nights, 1966-1968 (Jazz Detective)

3. Johnny Griffin - Live at Ronnie Scott's (Gearbox Records)

4. Sonny Clark - The Complete Blue Note Recordings (Mosaic)

5. Chet Baker - Blue Room  (Jazz Detective)

6. Bill Evans - Tales, Live in Copenhagen (Resonance)

7. Luis Russell - At the Swing Cats Ball (Dot Time)

8. Shirley Scott - Queen Talk: Live at the Left Bank (Reel to Reel)

9. Basie All Stars - Live at Fabrik Vol. 1 (Jazzline)

10. Cal Tjader - Catch the Groove (Jazz Detective).

So many more, Mingus, Brubeck, Walter Bishop Jr., Sal Mosca etc. You could put the names in a snap-brim hat or a Fedora give them a shuffle, draw them out blindfolded and, even if the result was totally different it would still be credible. Lance

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1 comment :

Paul Grainger said...

Giving in to the wind and rain I spent tonight listening to some of my favourite records (at least tonight's favourites), and had a quick browse of BSH.
As you say, Lance, a list as short as 10 will change even as it's being written down. Thoughts/coincidences from one leads you to think of another.
Anyway, for anyone who cares, tonight I have been mostly listening to:

1. Oscar Peterson and the bassists (Ray Brown, Niels Pederson) - Montreux '77 (Pablo)
2. Joe Pass/Milt Jackson/Ray Brown/Mickey Roker - All Too Soon: Quadrant Toasts Duke Ellington (Pablo)
3. Duke Ellington, Charlie Mingus, Max Roach - Money Jungle (United Artists Jazz)
4. Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else (Blue Note)
5. Jutta Hipp/with Zoot Sims - Jutta Hipp (Blue Note)
6. Art Pepper + Eleven - Modern Jazz Classics (Contemporary)
7. The Milcho Leviev Quartet - Blues For The Fisherman (Mole Jazz)
8. Hampton Hawes - Spanish Steps (Black Lion/Polydor)
9. Joe Williams - At Newport '63 (RCA Victor)
10. Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong - Ella and Louis Again (Verve)

...and as I'm finishing the list I'm already listening to Five Way Split's All The Way (Ubuntu), and while looking for that I found a great old Fletcher Henderson collection.. Do I write a top 20, or just choose accept that it would end up as a list of 1000 and go on all night?

Thursday, December 07, 2023 11:35:00 pm

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