Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 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

18918 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 782 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 18.) 61.

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

September.

Sun 27: Salty Dog @ The Cluny. 12:30pm (doors). Free (donations).
Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Zach Sewell-Lara Hopper Quintet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 27: Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED to Sunday 4 October.
Sun 27: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Alex Hitchcock Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Mon 28: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ Hepscott Parish Hall. 7:30pm. . £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Tue 29: Red Kites Jazz @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ The Hearth, Horsley. 7:30pm. £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Wed 30: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 30: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds + Juliana Day & Manon McCoy + Helen Anahita Wilson @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. A BBC Introducing-Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

October

Thu 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Rivkala @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 01: Hot Club de Heaton @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 01: The Scenic Route @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Alison Gill + Markrokosmos @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music (NFOJAIM).
Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Gilby & Hunter + Andy Champion @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. The Abbie Finn Trio augmented by Dean Stockdale (piano).
Fri 02: Alexia Gardner Trio @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 02: Zoe Rahman Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 8:00pm. NFOJAIM. SOLD OUT!

Sat 03: New Orleans Ragtime Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Gavin Lee & co.
Sat 03: Anemone Quartet + Jeepe Zeeburg @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Caravan. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Free. Excellent blues band.
Sat 03: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.50 (inc. bf). Two sets: 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. ‘Swing Band Dance Night’.
Sat 03: Olie Brice Quartet + Alexander Hawkins + Harper Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Friday, January 23, 2026

Album review: Betty Bryant - Nothin' Better to do (bry-mar music)

Betty Bryant (piano, vocals); Robert Kyle (tenor/soprano sax, flute, guiro); Robert Simon (bass except tks 4 & 5); Hussain Jiffry (bass tks 4 & 5); Kevin Winard (drums except tks 5 & 7); Aaron Serfaty (drums tks 5 & 7); Tony Guerrero (trumpet tk 8); Kleber Jorge (guitar tk 4); Luanne Homzy (violin, viola tks 4 & 9); Niall Taro (cello tks 4 & 9)

Betty Bryant now has 15 albums under her belt and BSH has to hold its head in shame as this is only the third one we've covered. However, as Betty is now 96 years old chances are that some of our reviewers weren't born when her recording career kicked off.
  
The late Ann Alex set the ball rolling with an enthusiastic review of Betty's 2019 album PROJECT 88  and I included 2024's LOTTA LIVIN' in my top ten vocal albums of that year. Nothin' Better to do is also a cert to be up there where the air is rarified.

You Are Not my First Love - the title gives you an idea where it's going. It swings along nicely  with a Basie-like piano intro from the Cool Miss B as saxist/flautist Kyle dubbed her. The 'dubber' himself has a  tasty solo as does 'Betty Cool', Simon and Winard. I Can't See For Looking, originally a hit for Nat 'King' Cole, the cool one has the same relaxed approach to the words and the music, Kyle blows soprano and there's more impressive basswork from Simon. I'm loving this album more and more as each track unfolds.

He May be Your Man is a Bryant original that incorporates a lot of well-known blues phrases. She sings then, she plays them and I get the impression she's lived them. More fine tenor. I Haven't Got Anything Better to do has one of the best ever lines: I think of him on alternate Thursdays, when I haven't got anything better to do - magic! Guitar and tenor over a bossa rhythm and some sensitive strings all go to make it rather special.

Time Was dates back to the mid-thirties. Kyle's flute adds to the Afro-Cuban groove. The voice sounds so beautifully young it's impossible to imagine her years but, then again, it takes age and experience to phrase so meaningfully. Mama Sue, composed by Bryant and Kyle, is a fun track describing the journey to a heavenly rib joint. Propulsive drums keep the beat going.

Thanks For You, first recorded by Frankie Laine back in his Mercury label days, is a good song, well worth reviving. Great voice and swinging piano. Awrite Then. A bluesy instrumental by Kyle with lots of solos including Guerrero on trumpet, Winard on drums and Betty laying down some nice chords.

Winter Warm from Bacharach and David has the strings back on board and a perfect vocal from the coolest lady in L.A. All bets are off - this one is going to be riding high when this year's albums are rated. It's out now - grab it! Lance
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