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

18767 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 631 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 31) 95.

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

August

Mon 03: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 03: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 06: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guest Zoë Gilby.
Thu 06: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 06: Bridget Metcalfe Sextet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 08: ???

Sun 09: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Ropner Park, Stockton. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: The Gambling Janes @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Tuesday, October 22, 2024

Album review: Hannah Gill - Spooky Jazz Vol. 2 (Turtle Bay Records)

Hannah Gill (vocals); Gabe Terracciano (violin); Ricky Alexander (clarinet, tenor sax); Mike Davis (trumpet, trombone); Justin Poindexter (guitar, organ); Gordon Webster (piano, organ); Philip Ambuel (bass); Ben Zweig (drums)

If you're sitting in the house with the curtains drawn and the lights out on October 31 then the time is right for you to listen to Spooky Jazz Vol. 2 (with the headphones on).  Thus you will avoid the hordes of feral children knocking on your door and menacingly offering you the choice between 'trick or treat'. This will enable you to celebrate Halloween whilst listening to some killer-diller hot music.

Gill creates the phantasmagoric mood the concept demands to the extent that maybe listening in the dark isn't such good idea after all! Even some of the solos  are likely to have you hiding under the bed. Davis' screaming, growling blast on My Man's an Undertaker, coupled with the line 'he's got a coffin just your size'  could have you loading up the silver bullets. 

When not scaring the pants off the listener, Hannah's doing just that to any wannabe singers in her audience. Away from Halloween, back in 2019, I heard her at Sage Gateshead with Postmodern Jukebox and was as knocked out then as I am now.

Apart from the vocals, Ricky Alexander blows walkin' the bar tenor, Terracciano plays hot fiddle, Poindexter's blues drenched guitar picking is straight out of a mid-west juke joint, Webster and his rhythmic henchmen are the perfect musical pallbearers and Davis, like fellow multi-instrumentalist Colin Hancock on another Turtle Bay recording, also made his mark over here at the Classic Jazz Party and his plunger choruses spook everyone - even Hard Hearted Hannah - a different Hannah to the one singing I hasten to add!

Now here's the good news - it is well worth listening to at any time of year. Lance

I'd Rather be Burned as a Witch; My Man's an Undertaker; Love is a Necessary Evil; Hummin' to Myself; Love Your Spell is Everywhere (Transylvanian Lullaby); Oogie's Song; You Hurt Me; Hard Hearted Hannah; That Old Black Magic; Haunted House Blues; Shine on Harvest Moon.

Available now - check out on BANDCAMP.

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