Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18504 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 368 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 7 ) 22

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

May

Thu 14: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Philip Larkin’s Jazz Experiment.
Thu 14: Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb country blues.
Thu 14: Solcade @ the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. 7:00pm. EP launch. Rivkala & co..
Thu 14: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.
Thu 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 15: Conor Emery Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Line-up Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 adv., £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Puppini Sisters @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Mon 18: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Mark Williams Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 19: GoGo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £22.00 + £4.40 bf.
Tue 19: Danny Lowndes’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £5.00 bf.
Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums).

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Jordan Jackson @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.80 (inc. bf); £15.40 (inc. bf).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Monday, June 16, 2025

R.I.P. Dill Katz

Dill Katz, former bass guitarist who played with, among others, Barbara Thompson's Paraphernalia, District Six and Nucleus, passed away on June 13.

I recall seeing Nucleus on several occasions but I can't recall if Dill was with the band on any of the gigs. I took some photos at one of them and I wonder if Dill was in the band at the time.

In this photo the bass player wears a hooped sweater (horizontal stripes) and I've seen a photo of Paraphernalia where Dill is wearing a similar top which might be a clue.

Whether 'tis he on the photo or not doesn't change the fact that he was a great musician and by all accounts a lovely guy who will be sadly missed.

Dill Katz was 79 when he left us. May he Rest In Peace. Lance

4 comments :

Hugh said...

Sad news indeed. I saw Dill Katz with "Paraphernalia" back in the late seventies/early eighties. I saw him again with "District Six" at Washington (D.C.) Arts Centre - ironically at around the time Washington exchanged numbered "Districts" for named communities.

I remember Dill at the back of the band - his stage persona was indeed that of an extremely cool cat!

Rob Adams said...

It was good to see BSH marking Dill Katz's passing. I can solve one mystery of the photo for you. The bass guitarist is Chucho Merchan, who went on to play with Sunwind and the Eurythmics.

Dill did play with Nucleus in Newcastle, in 1987 (May, I think), so if you have any photos of that gig, he'll maybe be in them. I can't remember the name of the venue but it was a theatre.

I'm not sure about the rest of the band in the photo. Ian Carr (obviously) is on trumpet and NIc France is on drums. Might be Brian Smith on sax. Geoff Castle was the keyboardist in the band at the time Chucho and Nic were there, so that might be him.

I think of Dill every time I have Singapore noodles because he introduced me to them.

Hugh said...

Oops! D.C. (obviously) in this case means Durham County...

Peter Bevan said...

Nucleus also appeared at Darlington Arts Centre on 13 May 1987 with Phil Todd, Mark Wood, John Marshall and Dill; presumably the same tour and line-up as the Newcastle date.

Dill may also have appeared at Darlington Arts Centre on 19 February 1986 with Munch Manship; on 5 March 1986 with District 6; 26 March 1986 with Gary Boyle and John Etheridge and finally here with again with District 6 on 11 March 1987.

I also saw him with the Ian Carr Group at the Corner House, Newcastle on 6 October 1991 (when the Jazz North East commission North East Song lines was performed). My notes show the line up was similar to the 1987 date but I wonder now if that was likely.

There's a single track (For Miles and Miles) from that Corner House concert on the CD that comes with Roger Farbey's annotated discography of Ian Carr, Elastic Dream.

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