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!

Monday, September 02, 2024

NYC jazz notes (2)

Touchdown at JFK! On time, 13:29, to the minute. Let's go, there's a gig to go to! From Terminal 7 take the AirTrain to Sutphin Blvd subway ($4.25, pay on exit). At Sutphin a $35 seven day MetroCard would prove to be the bargain of all time. Subway into Manhattan. Excited? You bet! Half an hour later, emerging from the bowels of a labyrinthine subway system (the largest subway system on the planet) onto the streets of NYC, the temperature hitting 28° and rising...


Skyscrapers this way, skyscrapers that way, skyscrapers every which way. Wow! Down to East 28th, turning onto Madison Avenue, yellow cabs, trucks, SUVs, a heaving tide of human beings as far as the eye could see and there's the hotel. Check in, shower, change and out to the first gig of the trip. Take the subway 'Uptown' to West 44th, let's see how it goes. A stiflingly hot train, passengers minding their own business (much like the London Underground), ear buds in, faces buried in mobile phones (make that 'cell phones') or a dime novel. 

West 44th, let's find Birdland. Counting down the door numbers to no. 315. There it is...'The Jazz Corner of the World'! Down one flight of stairs, ushered in to a darkened Birdland Theater, shown to our table. Drinks ordered, then, on stage: The David Ostwald Louis Armstrong Legacy Band!  

The original venue dates from 1949. Since 1996, 315 West 44th has been its present home. David Ostwald's band is celebrating its twenty-fourth year at Birdland - that's a weekly Wednesday evening residency approaching its quarter century! Watching a Birdland livestream is one thing, being there in person is, as they say, something else! The six-piece band appears to be rehearsed to the nth degree. More likely, the routines are honed from countless performances, not withstanding occasional changes to the line-up. Joe Boga's strong lead kept the band on the straight and narrow, Will Anderson (reeds) and Jim Fryer (once of Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival/Classic Jazz Party fame, trombone) soloed to great effect and the rhythm section couldn't be bettered - Arnt 'Arnie' Arntzen (banjo, guitar, vocals), bandleader Ostwald (tuba) and drummer Alex Raderman. 

Highlights were many, however, to pick out one, Arnt Arntzen is something special. A stupendous banjo player and a superb vocalist (Lonesome Road and When Your Lover Has Gone), it would be great to see and hear Arntzen on this side of the Atlantic. 

It took some believing (it still does) that we were sitting at a table in Birdland, NYC. Wow! What's more, at the end of the evening, in the dimly lit room a familiar voice said: Hi, Patti! It was none other than Daryl Sherman! Russell          

The David Ostwald Legacy Band: Joe Boga (trumpet); Will Anderson (clarinet, alto sax); Jim Fryer (trombone, tuba, vocal); Arnt Arntzen (banjo, guitar, vocals); David Ostwald (tuba); Alex Raderman (drums)            
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1 comment :

NeilC said...

Wow , thanks for bringing NYC and Birdland to life , have a great time , hopefully you will have time for more descriptive and fascinating reports.

Tuesday, September 03, 2024 8:53:00 am

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