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

18469 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 333 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 27 ) 67

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

Thu 30: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: International Jazz Day & JANE AGM.
Thu 30: Duke Junction @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Nadim Teimoori (tenor sax); Jeff Hewer (guitar); Martin Longhawn (organ); Steve Hanley (drums). An International Jazz Day event & the 12th anniversary of Newcastle Jazz Co-op acquiring the Globe!

May

Fri 01: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 01: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 01: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 01: Bede Wind Band + East Coast Swing Band @ Cullercoats Methodist Church. 7:30pm. £10.00. Tickets from: www.ticketsource.com, members of Bede Wind Band & at the door. Memorial concert for Anne-Marie Purvis, who was a member of both ensembles. All proceeds to Tiny Lives Trust.
Fri 01: Louis Louis Louis @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.

Sat 02: Midnite Follies Orchestra @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £20.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. All-star line-up.
Sat 02: Knats Masterclass & Jam II @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00-3:00pm. £15.00.
Sat 02: Shannon Pearl + John Pope & John Garner @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf. ‘Witch-pop’ + Pope & Garner.
Sat 02: Knats + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sat 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 03: Chilcott Jazz Mass @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 9:30am. Free. Sung communion with Parish Choir (featuring Bob Chilcott’s music). A Jesmond Community Festival event.
Sun 03: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 03: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Mark Toomey (alto sax).
Sun 03: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: Tom Waits for No Man @ Oxygenic, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm (2:30pm doors). Neckties and Boxing Gloves album launch. £14.00 (gig & a CD); £8.00 (gig only).
Sun 03: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 03: John Pope & John Garner @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.

Mon 04: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Pete Tanton’s Cuban Heels @ The Library, South Parade, Whitley Bay. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Mon 04: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 05: Leah Kirk (voice): Final Year Music Recital @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 2:30pm. Free, open to the public.
Tue 05: Jenny Baker (voice): Final Year Music Recital @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 4:20pm. Free, open to the public.
Tue 05: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Tue 05: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 06: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 06: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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