Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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

Sunday, June 15, 2025

R.I.P. Louis Moholo Moholo (1940 - June 13, 2025)

Sad news from Cape Town of the passing of legendary South African percussionist Louis Moholo Moholo. 

I missed him when he appeared at the long gone Gateshead International Jazz Festival in 2013 but fortunately BSH's roving reporter Russell was in attendance. His review can be read HERE

Moholo (he had yet to double his surname) was probably with Chris McGregor's Brotherhood of Breath when they appeared at Newcastle City Hall in the late '60s/early '70s but, with the passage of time, I can no longer recall who was or wasn't in the band. My vague recollection is that I didn't like it and stayed in the bar until the main event which was, I think, John McLaughlin's Mahavishnu Orchestra (or it could have been Gary Burton). 

Nevertheless, I've heard Louis on record many times since then and have to respect him as both a musician and a person.

Louis Moholo Moholo was 85.

Sadly missed - Lance

PS: Link to comment HERE.

1 comment :

Cormack Loane said...

You’re right, Lance. I was also at the Chris McGregor gig at Newcastle City Hall in October 1969, as part of the first Newcastle Festival (I was 14!). The main act was Gary Burton, but Chris McGregor played the first set which didn’t go down well with the audience - many of whom walked out! And I remember seeing Andy Hudson, one of the festival organisers, looking very concerned during the interval - obviously hoping that the audience would return, which they duly did!

I’m pretty sure that saxophone player Dudu Pukwana was playing with McGregor’s band at that gig - and I was knocked out by his playing.

See the Festival programme and the review in the Evening Chronicle (or perhaps The Journal)

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