Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 2026)

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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

From This Moment On

April

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Nubiyan Twist @ Digital, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £28.75 (inc. bf).
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 7:30pm. Date, time & admission TBC.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).
Fri 24: TBC @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm.
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wednesday, May 29, 2024

The Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre - May 28

© Mike Tilley

Pippa Morgan, Max Storey, Crissi Booth, Lucy McCarten, Brian Wicks (saxes); Billy Bradshaw, Sam Armstrong, James Bateman, Andrew Marshall (trumpets); Alex Utting, Bertie Marks, Josh Scott, Kieran Parnaby (trombones); Ben Davies (guitar); Alex Ngeyu (keys); Joe Sharples (bass); Dan Arenstein (drums); Anna Heslop (vocals).



© Mike Tilley
Bold by name bold by nature the Bold Big Band took the A Train on the ride of its life. This wasn't the relatively sedate Ellington/Strayhorn opus but a chart by Don Sebesky. A wild dissonant arrangement closer to Kenton or Sun Ra than Billy Strayhorn. It would have made a great soundtrack for The Taking of Pelham 123. Utting and Armstrong the soloists.


Utting stayed in the driving seat alongside Crissi Booth on Dancing Men and Crissi had a solo feature on Metroliner.

5-5-7 saw Davies doing some shredding with Pippa impressive on soprano and MD Wicks playing baritone and sit-down comedian.

Anna Heslop, a new addition to the band, like most big band singers was gowned and gorgeous and, like most big band singers, struggled to be heard above the sheets of sound going on behind her. Perhaps if I'd been sitting closer to the front it would have been a better balance. Nevertheless, Let There be Love was a good arrangement with a few bars of Charlie Barnet's Skyliner thrown in by the band. The band won on Hallelujah I Love Her so but Anna came out on top with Come Fly With Me where the balance was much better revealing a pleasing voice.

The set finished with the Beatles' Blackbird with Billy Bradshaw growling like Cootie then taking it out with some screamers à la Cat.

A 15 minute interval gave me a chance to say 'hello' to Terry of the Red Kites - a band reviewed by one of our coastal correspondents at the Exchange in North Shields a while back.

The second set followed along the lines of the first. A skull busting opener, Parthenia, a drum solo, Patience, Bill Holman's arrangement of After You've Gone, a smooth Basie number, Count Me In, then more vocals from Anna.

© Mike Tilley
The balance was much improved or maybe my ears had unconsciously adapted themselves to the acoustical properties of the room but It Had to be You, Almost Like Being in Love and Still Alive showcased the singer more advantageously.  High Maintenance had a funky shuffle feel to it and the encore, the name of which I didn't catch although Terry 'the kite' remarked that it reminded him of Mission Impossible which, after Davies' guitar workout would have been an apt title for any budding Claptons in the audience.

A good gig. Two 45 minute sets and a short interval the perfect recipe. Catch them when next you can. Lance

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