Bebop Spoken There

Ethan Hawke (starring as Lorenz Hart in Blue Moon): ''Larry [Lorenz] Hart would be so happy that his music and his words and his poetry are still alive.'' - The Northern Echo 27 November 2025

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

18000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 964 of them this year alone and, so far, 73 this month (Nov. 24).

From This Moment On ...

DECEMBER 2025

Sat 06: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 06: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Minor Swing. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 06: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 06: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76 (inc. bf).
Sat 06: Kaberry Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. (inc. hot buffet). ‘Christmas 1945’. Kaberry Big Band, formerly Vermont Big Band.
Sat 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ Platform 1, Bedlington. 7:30pm. £6.00. Rhythm & blues.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas Party with buffet.
Sat 06: The Jive Aces @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £22.00., £20.00.
Sat 06: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. special guest Donna Hewitt (sax, clarinet).
Sun 07: Finn-Keeble Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio + Ruth Lambert.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 5:15pm (4:00pm doors). £21.50 (inc. bf).
Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ 3 Stories, High St. West, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Support set from Play More Jazz! course participants. Note earlier start.

Mon 08: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 09: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Mike Lindup Jazz Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £26.50 (inc. bf). Lindup, Yolanda Charles (bass), John Sam (drums).
Wed 10: Bold Big Band @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: West Coast (cool ) / Wordsearch (cool) Cool Jazz or ‘Cold’, ‘Cool’, ‘Hot’, ‘Warm’ in the title or lyrics.
Thu 11: George Robinson @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £5.42 (inc. bf). Vienna’s Voice charity evening featuring ’15 year old singing sensation the ‘Redcar Crooner’ George Robinson’. Over 35s only.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Chakh Dhoom, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Indian restaurant. Skerritt w. back tapes.
Thu 11: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 11: Down for the Count Swing Orchestra @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 7:30pm. £37.70 (inc. bf). ‘Swing into Xmas’.

Fri 12: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ Northumberland Club, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00. ‘Xmas Soiree’.
Fri 12: A Jazzy Xmas @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £15.00. Paul Edis (MD, piano); Jo Harrop (vocals); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax, soprano sax); Matthew Forster (alto sax, clarinet); Sue Ferris (flute, piccolo); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Jason Holcomb (trombone);Emma Fisk (violin); Andy Champion (double bass); Matt MacKellar (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 12: Tony Hadley: Xmas Big Band Tour 2025 @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Fri 12: Alexia Gardner @ The New Ship Inn, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea. 8:00pm. Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy, Abbie Finn.
Fri 12: Jive Aces: Swingin’ Xmas Show @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm.

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

Thursday, May 29, 2025

Album review: Nancy Harrow w. Buck Clayton's Jazz Stars Wild Women Don't Have The Blues (Exceleration Music)

Nancy Harrow (vocals); Buck Clayton (trumpet, arrangements); Dickie Wells (trombone); Tommy Gwaltney (clarinet, alto sax); Buddy Tate (tenor sax); Danny Banks (baritone sax); Dick Wellstood (piano); Kenny Burrell (guitar); Milt Hinton (bass); Oliver Jackson (drums)

I noticed in the current issue of Jazzwise that Alyn Shipton reviews a reissue of Nancy Harrow's 1960 recording with Buck Clayton's Jazz Stars - Wild Women Don't Have The Blues. Alyn awards the album four stars and justifiably so.

Originally recorded for the Candid label, this reissue is on vinyl and released by Exceleration Music who took over Candid and several other jazz related labels including Mack Avenue (DETAILS).

I didn't receive a review copy but that didn't matter as I've treasured the original recording ever since it was 'compacted'. Great singer, great band, great arrangements and great tunes.

Take me Back Baby. Count Basie and Jimmy Rushing wrote this for the old Basie band and with the soloists: Tate, Clayton and Wells all being Basie Alumni and Kenny Burrell playing rhythm guitar á la Freddie Green, Basie lives and the scene is set for 'Mama' Harrow to make her entrance. A very individual voice with a hint of Billie, Helen Humes, Maxine and Ivie Anderson - but only just a hint.
All Too Soon. By association, Ivy springs to mind but it's Harrow's baby. Gwaltney takes one on clarinet followed by Wells' distinctive sound full of slurs and slurps and his own brand of slideology. Clayton blows muted behind the vocal. 
Can't We Be Friends? Tate has a nice big fat solo followed by Wellstood and some tasty guitar from Burrell.  Clayton too is in there pitching along with Harrow's vocal - which is as much a musical story as it is a song. Only the greats can pull off something like that and our girl (who was still recording in 2024 at the age of 94) does just that.
On the Sunny Side of the Street. An uptempo romp. Buck tightly muted, Burrell releasing some dazzling single string flurries, swinging piano from Wellstead and, of course, a great vocal.
Wild Women Don't Have the Blues. The title track, composed and recorded by Ida Cox in 1924 is effectively revived by Harrow along with open horn from Buck, clarinet from Gwaltney and blues piano from Wellstood. 
I've Got the World on a String. More imaginative singing, trombone by Wells, Gwaltney on alto this time and another masterclass in arranging by Clayton.
I Don't Know What Kind of Blues I've Got. Duke's composition is given an Ellingtonian feel beginning with some Carneyesque baritone from Banks. The horns have the harmonic depth that the number demands and Harrow does justice to the lyric.
Blues For Yesterday. Composed by blues pianist Leroy Carr and subsequently recorded by Louis Armstrong, a powerful Clayton solo leads into more distinctive blues singing by Harrow. The underrated Gwaltney on clarinet, Wellstood on piano and Tate, arguably the most blues-orientated of the horns, captures the mood as indeed does Nancy Harrow - the reigning Empress of the Blues! Lance
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