Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''We knew back in the day that Emmet [Cohen] had it.'' (DownBeat July, 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

18680 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 544 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 3) 8

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

July

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 07: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Sax on the Tyne @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £8.00. Feat. Sax on the Tyne & St George’s Community Choir.
Wed 08: Abbie Finn Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 09: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 09: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 10: Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Olly Styles & Jacob Egglestone @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 10: Archipelago @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:00pm . New album fundraiser gig.
Fri 10: King Bees @ Rebel Yell, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 11: Spanish City Rollers @ Community Stage: Mouth of the Tyne Festival, Front Street, Tynemouth. 12 noon. Free.
Sat 11: Jazz Stage: Mouth of the Tyne Festival (o/s Tynemouth Priory), Tynemouth. Free. Vieux Carré Hot 4 (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Castillo Nuevo Trio (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Day 1/2.
Sat 11: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man + Adam Millington @ St John’s Chapel, Town Hall, Weardale DL13 1QF. 5:00pm (doors). £16.26., £10.84., £8.67., £5.42 (under 18).
Sat 11: Milne Glendinning Band @ Langley Tracks, Langley-on-Tyne. 5:30pm.
Sat 11: Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:30pm.
Sat 11: Karberry Big Band @ Forest Hall Social Club. 7:00pm. £7.00.
Sat 11: Ray Quinn: The King of Swing @ The Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.

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.

at

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

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive