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

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
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).

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
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!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

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!

Monday, March 31, 2025

Sam Lightwing Quartet @ the Moor Club, Heaton Moor, Stockport - March 30

© Jeff Pritchard
Sam Lightwing  (alto/tenor sax); Max Rosen (keyboards); Peter Hartley (bass); Callum Montgomery (drums).

The joys of travel when you can't drive never cease! I went to Handforth Station to catch the 5:44pm train to Stockport which was actually on time. The problem was that instead of the normal three carriages they had added some more but I still had to squeeze myself on board into very little space. The overcrowding was due to some earlier broken down trains according to an announcement. Anyway, I  eventually arrived at the Moor Club after a pizza at the nearby Crown pub, ready to listen to Sam Lightwing and  his  quartet - a group of fine musicians.
 
I was a bit surprised by the rather small audience for this show as by the 8:00pm start the jazz room was showing a few empty seats. Still I'm sure the ones who were there enjoyed what they heard as I certainly did. 

The opening tune was a favourite of mine, Henry Mancini's  Days of Wine and Roses which was done at a faster tempo than most bands play it. Sam then said he was a big admirer of the late, great, brass legend Roy Hargrove, switching from tenor to alto to go into a jazz-funk groove with Roy's  Strasbourg St Denis named after a district in Paris or perhaps a metro station, I'm not sure.  Sam played another Hargrove number in the second set entitled  Starmaker  a tune I was unfamiliar with but Sam again sounded good on alto. This reminded me of the times I spent listening to Roy Hargrove's quintet on the QE2's Charlie Parker cruise and also when Roy played at Wigan. He died too soon but his music lives on.

I thought the sound was a bit echoey from where I was sitting but that could be because there were not enough in the audience to absorb things. Maybe the fact that it was Mother's Day had an effect on the low turnout but it always amazes me why so many people listen to terrible music when they could hear some jazz. 

To conclude I enjoyed all of the tunes: 5 in the first set, 6 in the second; and everyone involved got plenty of solos.

Next week, on Sunday April 6, the Helena Summerfield Quartet will be at the Moor Club. I cannot make that gig but I will be at the gig on April 13 to see Jim Muirhead. Mike Farmer

Days of Wine and Roses; Strasbourg St Denis; Straight no Chaser; Lawns; Moment's Notice; Joy Spring; Night in Tunisia; Stella by Starlight; Aregin; Starmaker; St Thomas.
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