Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18317 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 171 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 23), 71

From This Moment On ...

February

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Geordie Jazz Jam @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Newcastle University jam session. All welcome.
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

Fri 27: Joe Steels Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! A Blue Patch album tour.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Radio Hito + Eddie Prévost, Silvain Schmid & Tom Wheatley @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.22., £10.10., £8.00.
Fri 27: Giacomo Smith w Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).

Sat 28: Boys of Brass @ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. Free.

March

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free Quintet + guest Dan Johnson (tenor sax).
Sun 01: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Fergus McCreadie & Matt Carmichael @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 3:00-4:30pm.
Sun 01: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Littlewood Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00., £8.00. adv., £6.00. 25 & under. Marcus Dawe (piano); Ifedi Osiyemi (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums).

Mon 02: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. 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

Thursday, August 14, 2025

Album review: Hot Club of Jupiter - Copacallisto (recorded at Temple Studios)

Kit Massey (violin, piano, Rhodes, B3, vocals); Jon Shenoy (clarinet, bass clarinet, vocals); Sam Dunn (guitar, vocals); Nick Walsh (bass); Matt French (drums, perc.) + Mike Guy (accordion on tks 3, 4, 5)

The release date for this one was back in April so its arrival in August is somewhat belated. However, to be fair Jupiter isn't exactly next door, a wrong turn at Saturn and you could land on Uranus.

Nevertheless, it eventually made it and it was worth the wait.

I reviewed the  previous HCoJ album in 2021 (HERE) and although there are a couple of personnel changes the overall effect is the same - Hot Club/Manouche with a difference. One difference being the material which are all originals. Initially I'd assumed that Destination Moon would be the 1950 song of the same name that was recorded by both Nat 'King' Cole and Dinah Washington and composed by Marvin Fisher and Roy Alfred. However, this one is of a more recent vintage with a lyric that makes reference to the AGM and Ponzi Schemes! Definitely a song of the times.

Everyone solos effectively as well as chipping in with backing vocals. Walsh has a lovely arco solo on Li'l Bow Creek and the tracks with Guy on accordion add a musette feel to the proceedings.

Die hard aficionados of the genre(s) may have reservations but for me it's good fun and it swings like a rusty gate after a shot of WD40. Lance 

Craven St. Pit Blues; Copacallisto; Balthazar and Nerris; The Count of Monte Carlo; Valse Macabre No. 2; Ballad For Laika; Gammy Kneed; Destination Moon; Hot Heat; La Cháteau de Montreville; Li'l Bow Creek

1 comment :

Patti said...

Interesting tune titles - a ballad to Laika, the poor little dog sent into space on Sputnik 2 a long time ago - who remembers Laika now? Not many, apart from this band!

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