Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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

Friday, March 29, 2024

Classic Swing on Good Friday @ Cullercoats Crescent Club - March 29

Olive Rudd (vocals); Jim McBriarty (alto sax, soprano sax, clarinet, vocals); Alan Marshall (tenor sax, clarinet); David Gray (trombone); Carl Peacock (keyboards); Alan Rudd (double bass); Ian Stocks (drums)

It seems like spring has sprung. Blue skies over Tyneside, the North Sea becalmed, happy days. The Crescent Club, the club on Cullercoats bay, looked a picture, this being Easter weekend it remained to be seen if audience numbers would hold up at Classic Swing's weekly Friday residency. A pint of Whapweasel, a food order placed, let's take a seat.

As always Tommy Moran's classic Classic Swing opened the show. A couple of deps in this week - David Gray and Carl Peacock - made little or no difference, the sextet hitting the ground running. Looking around the room, it was pleasing to see many seats occupied, just like any other week. Jim McBriarty (clarinet, alto and soprano saxophones at his feet) sang the first of several numbers, Sweet Sue. The band's main vocalist, Olive Rudd, joined the boys to sing the first of her numbers for the day - Only Trust Your Heart - ably supported by the engine room boys, Messrs Peacock, Rudd and Stocks.   

An instrumental Rosetta (McBriarty, soprano sax), Satin Doll, before Olive returned to close the first set singing It's a Sin to Tell a Lie.

The interval, another pint of Whapweasel, a sheaf of raffle tickets, no fewer than eleven prizes, what's the odds? A few minutes later a scrunched up sheaf of raffle tickets told a tale.

Second set, more Classic Swing, leading off, Perdido. McBriarty, clarinet in hand, sang Strike Up the Band. Not to be left out, Olive joined the boys once more, first singing Baby Won't You Please Come Home followed by a swinging take on When the Midnight Choo Choo Leaves for Alabama (that's Alabam, Ma'am) backed by McBriarty and his frontline partners Alan Marshall and a restrained David Gray. A dangerously modern Blue Bossa crept into the set list (no one seemed to mind) before the band returned to more familiar material (familiar to the Crescent Club regulars) with Mama's Gone, Goodbye (c. 1924). The three o'clock finish was fast approaching. The Best Things in Life Are Free sang Olive. Yes, perhaps they are. Russell

at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive