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

18376 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 240 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 15 ), 50

From This Moment On ...

March

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: The ’58 Jazz Collective @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, West Park, 7:30pm. £7.00.
Wed 18: Brand New Heavies @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Stephen Joshua Sondheim.
Thu 19: FILM: Köln 75 @ Forum Cinema, Hexham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £7.00., £3.00. Dir. Ido Fluk. Fictional account of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 Köln concert. A Tyne Valley Film Festival preview screening.
Thu 19: Ransom Van @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 20: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Theon Cross + support @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £13.31., £11.16., £9.04. Support set feat. members of balletLORENT’s Creative Studio in association with NYJO.
Fri 20: Groove Crusade @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00. CANCELLED!
Fri 20: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £32.00.
Fri 20: Joe Steels Group @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £12.00. +bf, £15.00. on the door. A Blue Patch album tour. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 20: Middlesbrough Jazz & Blues Orchestra @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ Riverdale Hall Hotel, Bellingham NE48 2JT. Tel: 01434 220254. 8:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Mark Toomey Quintet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 21: Freetime Old Dixie Jass Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. FODJB (Holland).
Sat 21: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sat 21: Ray Stubbs R&B Allstars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22:Jack Pearce Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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

Monday, November 24, 2025

Groovetrain @ Pilgrim, Newcastle - Nov. 23

© Anon
Michael Lavery (vocals/guitar); Angela Newbrook, Steph Kay, Rebecca Patton (vocals); Les Watts (keys); Mitch Laddie (guitar/vocals); John Dawson (bass guitar); Ian Halford (drums/vocals); Si King (perc.); Danny Allan (saxes); David 'Showtime' Gray (trombone); Ross Laing (trumpet).

Pilgrim (Hoochie Coochies as was) on Pilgrim St., welcomed the many that had made the pilgrimage to the iconic music venue in Newcastle city centre. I doubt if as many pilgrims had made it to Lourdes. Why should they? Groovetrain weren't there, they were here in Newcastle and, as usual, pulling in their own following. Needless to say the Sold Out signs were flashed up.

The fans had travelled far and wide to hear/see the band. A group near me were from Liverpool or maybe they were staying at the big, posh Hotel Gotham  opposite on the site of the old fire station.

There were times when experiencing what Groovetrain were laying down on stage with such burning zeal that I wished the original fire station was still operative!

With bar boss Lavery  leading from the front the room was a mass of gyrating hips - there was little space left to gyrate anything else - vocals and great harmonies from the girls, wild sax from Danny Allan, Showtime and Ross Laing power shredding brass riffs and the funkiest, rockiest, soul searching rhythm section this side of the Motor City - and I don't mean Sunderland - hit the spot.

Hairy Biker Si King knocked seven shades out of his percussive armoury, Mitch Laddie composed 50 Shades of Blue as well as singing and soloing like Clapton, Halford on drums also aired his vocal chords and John Dawson gave the bass some meaning as did the keeper of the keyboards.

A lot of the material was new to me but that didn't lesson the impact of the songs alongside the ones that I did know by Steely Dan, Stevie Wonder, Bill Withers and Tower of Power.

I missed the second set as I was also due at the Globe - but I left making a promise to myself that at the next Groovetrain gig I'd go the distance. Lance 

Not That Kind; Love Theory; As; Minute by Minute; Lowdown; Peg; Clap Your Hands...Master Builder; What You Won't do; Only so Much Oil; Why Did You Do It?; Sweet Love; 50 Shades of Blue; Use me.

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