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.

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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