Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18402 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 31 ), 76

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 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 03: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 04: Jake Leg Jug Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Anthropology. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Wild Women of Wylam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Neil Brodie (trumpet).
Sun 05: Mark Williams & Tom Remon @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Jazzmain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums).

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. 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: Zoë Gilby & Johnny Hunter @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 09: Tom Remon + A.N. Other @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 09: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra w. Dan Johnson @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. £15.00. inc. bf.

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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