Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18122 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 1086 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Dec. 31), 100

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 07: FILM: Blue Moon @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 2:00pm. Dir. Richard Linklater’s biopic of Lorenz Hart.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 08: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones of 1976.

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Tuesday, September 03, 2024

NYC jazz notes (3)

Day two in the Big Apple. It was 30° and getting hotter. A day to wander, to wander leisurely, taking in the sights and sounds of this wonderous metropolis. Beep! Beep! Toot! Beep! NYPD sirens, ambulances ('private', better make sure you got cover, buddy), fire trucks, one glorious cacophonous symphony. First stop Penn Station on 42nd St. 

Tyne and Wear's Metro system ain't got nothin' on this! A cavernous, cathedral-like space, thousands making their way to who knows where. We were making our way to nowhere in particular. Macy's? Yeah, why not? Think Fenwick's multiplied by 10. NYC's equivalent of the 'blue plaque' popped up here and there. On the street at Macy's, the site of Edison's claim in 1896 to the 'FIRST PROJECTED MOVING IMAGE'. Over in Paris the Lumière brothers no doubt countered, beating the American to it a year earlier (1895). The debate continues...

Standing on the corner of Joe Louis Plaza, there it was...Madison Square Garden. Fight fans will know all about the classic bouts...Rocky Marciano v. Joe Louis (1951), Ali v. Frasier (1971) and many more. Duckin' 'n' divin' we made our way to the Jazz Record Center. You need to know where this place is or you'll never find it. Thanks to BSH Editor-in-Chief, LL for his tip-off (LL had visited the place back in the day), we pressed the buzzer (#804) at 236 West 26 St. The intercom crackled, no one spoke. We pushed open the door and walked into the lobby. The janitor said: Don't take that elevator ('staff only'), take that one to the 8th floor. Would it stop on the 6th floor? Would Bogie or Cagney get in? Perhaps casting a nervous glance over their shoulder as they did so. Disappointingly, neither were in the building.

The Jazz Record Center should come with a 'wealth' warning. Like a kid in a candy store ('candy store' not 'sweet shop'), eyes feasted on 'must have' items, they were everywhere. This ain't your shiny high street store, no way. Think dusty or not-so-dusty store room with vinyl, CDs, books, magazines, the works, piled floor to ceiling. Excitedly we said: We're from England, Newcastle upon Tyne. Our New Yorker replied: Oh, yeah. Well, if he wasn't impressed, we were! A few dollars lighter, we hit the street. It would soon be time to head down to the East Village for gig no.2. Russell

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