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

18395 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 259 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 30 ), 69

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

March

Tue 31: Bede Trio @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Albert Hills Wright (alto sax); Finn Carter (piano); Michael Dunlop (double bass).

April

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). Free. Chicago blues.

Saturday, November 29, 2025

Album review: Tatum Langley - Tatum's Swingin' Session !!! (self-released)

Tatum Langley (vocals); Brett T. Dean (M.D., trumpet); Roger Ingram, Will Schmalbeck, John Dorhauer, Andrew Egizio (trumpets); Nick Roach, Andrew Meyer, Michael Nearpass, Ben Pederson, Ben Shanbaum (trombones); Ted Holtz, Ian Letts, Andy Schlinder, Bill Rank, Michael Kennedy, Karli Bunn, Jimmy Farace (saxes); Stuart Seale, Austyn Monk (piano); Ben Crino (guitar); Jack Sundstrom, Crystal Rebone (bass); T.J. Thompson (drums)

Does the front cover look familiar? You're damn right it does! Does the title, Swingin' Session !!! sound familiar? Check, you've got it - a playful take on Sinatra's 1961 Reprise album  of the same name and, like the original, it's a ring-a-ding-dinger!

Tatum has the ability to sell a song like few of her contemporaries can. Perfect pitching, jazzy phrasing, an amazing range  and the ability to do what it is says on the tin - swing! It comes as no surprise to find out that she has done tours of duty with PMJ.

The twenty piece Shout Section Big Band (confusingly abbreviated to SSBB*) dish out punchy solos (soloists in red), leaping out from well-crafted arrangements by such legends as Frank Foster, Frank DeVol, Jon Harpin, Shorty Rogers, Neal Hefti and Buddy Bregman plus, from within, Jon Dorhauer, all contributing to the overhaul picture.

To say Tatum can sing and swing is like saying Ella could hold a tune. Highly Recommended (the capital R is intentional). Lance 

Deedle's Blues; Ridin' High; That's my Style; All the Cats Join in; You Came a Long Way From St. Louis; Swingiin' on Nothing; Sing; Smooth Sailing; Aitchison, Topeka, and the Santa Fe; I Hadn't Anyone 'Til You; A Hard Day's Night; Pass Me By; The Song is Ended; You're the Top

*The north east's Strictly Smokin' Big Band also collapse to SSBB.

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