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!

Saturday, August 10, 2024

Lisy Fischer: Geneva to North Shields in 88 years

If you have had occasion to visit a cemetery (not on a permanent basis) you may have wondered what stories lie behind, or rather beneath, the gravestones. No doubt each one contains a slice of history, sometimes purely personal, sometimes of much wider interest.

As I was preparing to post my recent review of Sam Braysher's album dedicated to some of the German composer Kurt Weill's lesser known tunes: That's Him, the music of Kurt Weill I decided to research the composer, find out more about the man who'd provided verdant pastures for many great jazz musicians with songs like Mack the Knife, Speak Low, September Song and others. This I did via the poor man's Encyclopedia Britannica a.k.a Wikipedia.

Here I made the startling discovery that his second cousin, Elizabeth (Lisy) Fischer who was a talented Swiss-born child prodigy had, after the death of her husband, Ernest Simson in 1988, moved to England with her daughter Gabrielle settling in Newcastle.

Why, after spending the first 88 years of her life on the continent, she moved to Tyneside is a mystery. Lisy died on June 6, 1999 and was buried in the Jewish section of Preston Cemetery, North Shields (See graphic).

Read more HERE. Apart from her musical skills she was also a very beautiful woman. Are there any surviving relatives who remember her? Lance

PS: Thanks to Sylvia T who did the grave-hunting.

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4 comments :

Russell said...

Grave-hunting...grave-digging...

Saturday, August 10, 2024 7:40:00 pm
Sylvia T said...

A small world….when I took the photo of Lisy’s gravestone and noticed that her daughters married name was Stern, I was reminded of a Mr Stern who was one of my bosses in the mid sixties…turns out that it’s the same person!…I was straight from school and working in the laboratory of Commercial Plastics…
Several of the management were Jewish and I was horrified to see that at least one had numbers tattooed on his wrist!…

Sunday, August 11, 2024 11:06:00 pm
Patti said...

What a great memory, Sylvia ....... who'd have thought it!

Monday, August 12, 2024 12:04:00 pm
Gerald Stern said...

I am the grandson of Lisy Simson nee Fischer (I wrote the original Wikipedia page). My parents got permission for her to come and stay with them when my grandfather passed away in Geneva, Switzerland in 1988 as there were no other family members living over there. Lisy spent her last years with my parents in Newcastle upon Tyne, still playing piano (often without refering to any sheet music) into her 90s! My mother, Gaby Stern nee Simson, came to England in 1952 to marry my father. They met in London after the war but came to live in Newcastle when my father, Alfred (Freddy) Stern accepted a job with Commercial Plastics. As Sylvia T says "small world!". If you are interested, you can read more on my website. My father came to England age 13 years on the Kindertransport: http://www.sternmail.co.uk/freddy/ Gerald Stern

Monday, August 25, 2025 3:06:00 pm

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