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.

Wednesday, May 07, 2025

Cumbrian Capers

Yesterday I took a trip on a train heading west - north west that is. The sun shone as the 10:23a.m. made its way from Newcastle Central through the rolling Northumbrian countryside into Cumbria and finally Carlisle.

It had been some years since I'd last visited the 'Gateway to the Lakes' and it seemed to have lost none of its charm. There were still pubs on every corner (and in between) although not all were open. 

Restaurants too abounded covering many cuisines - I even spotted an English one in England! However, I opted for a Hoisen Duck Wrap at an Asian/Thai establishment mainly because I hadn't a clue what the other items on the menu were. It was delicious.

The inner person's needs met, I set off on a round of the charity shops. There were a few shall I? or shall I not? moments with the latter moment winning the day even though it meant bypassing an item of current interest - the sheet music for We're Going to Hang Out the Washing on the Siegfried Line which was a wartime popular song recorded by the Two Leslies one of who was Leslie Sarony, father of singer and author Neville Sarony, a gentleman not unknown to BSH via his association with Ned Kelly's in Hong Kong and the Crescent Club in Cullercoats.

Eventually, at a shop selling second hand CDs and LPs my journey bore fruit. No last year's fashions or jigsaws with missing pieces to impede my progress, just music all the way. 

After much perusal and some pleasant banter with the owner I left clutching five albums in my sweaty palms - all at a quid a piece. My day's work done!

The Woody Herman album is a strange one. A mainly live recording by the 1949 band (the second Herd) there are discrepancies between what actually happens on the disc and what the sleeve claims happens! The notes refer to Gene Ammons playing Pennies From Heaven - not on my turntable! Lemon Drop is listed as track one Side B when in fact it is track 6 on Side A. 

There are other anomalies none of which detract from a very swinging album. Bill Harris' trombone feature on I Only Have Eyes For You and Don Lamond's work out on Don Delves In are highlights along with Woody's alto on I Cover the Waterfront and his clarinet playing on various other tracks.

More later. Lance

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