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

18336 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 190 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 28), 90

From This Moment On ...

March

Fri 06: EXHIBITION: Images of Jazz @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. Visual artist Dave Barden exhibiting works in Gallery Two (10:00am-4:00pm Mon to Sat, closing May 30).
Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Market Place, Blyth NE24 1BQ. 5:00pm, 6:00pm & 7:30pm. Free. A ‘Festival of Energy’ event.
Fri 06: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 06: Brass Funkeys + support @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Fri 06: Vintage Explosion @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 06: Flat Moon + Spilt Milk @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.
Fri 06: Giles Strong Quartet @ Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:45pm (7:00pm doors). £16.50.
Fri 06: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. Musicians Unlimited (in concert). £10.00. (£20.00 weekend ticket). Day 1/3.

Sat 07: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 12 noon. Open Section (all day, closing concert performance at 7:00pm). £15.00. (£20.00 weekend ticket). Day 2/3.
Sat 07: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 07: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30-3:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Antônio Carlos Jobim: Meditation & How Insensitive. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free. Sat 07: Hot Club du Nord @ St Mary’s Parish Hall, Barnard Castle. 7:00pm. £20.00., £8.00 under 16. Charity fundraiser.
Sat 07: Taupe + Marigolds + Mother Man @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 08: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 9:30am. School Section & Youth Section (all day). £10.00. (£20.00 weekend ticket). Day 3/3.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: TRIO-SKW @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Josh Savage (drums); Lucas Kelly (organ); Tim ‘Bim’ Williams (guitar).
Sun 08: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Trish Clowes’ My Iris @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 08: Durham University Big Band & Foot Notes @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. £10.00., £8.00., £6.00. Big band & a cappella ensemble.

Mon 09: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 10: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. 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

Friday, March 06, 2026

Album review:House of the Black Gardenia - Mazurka in Jazz

Neil Hopper (bass, sousaphone); Elise Rana Hopper (vocals
, washboard); Kit Haigh (drums, perc, vocals); Michael Littlefield (guitar, banjo, vocals); Keith Robinson (alto/tenor sax, clarinet); David 'Showtime' Gray (trombone); Pete Tanton (trumpet, screams); Katja Roberts (violin); Elliott Rush (piano, vocals).

Five years is a long time between albums. Yes it has been five years since Tyneside's viper jazz group released The New Lowdown. With Mazurka in Jazz, apart from a couple of changes of personnel it's the same band - or is it? The material, mainly original, covers a wider scope than the previous album - sometimes related to real life.

Elise Hopper puts emotion into a song softly, gently and with feeling whether it's joy or sadness she nails it. Queen Witch is a complex arrangement with trombone adding substance to Elise's mystical vocal, Superhero relates to one of Elise's awesome kids. Banjo and violin give the chart an extra input.

As always, Michael Littlefield is involved and Should we Dance?  had me wanting to do exactly that. Great vocal, hoedown guitar and, among others, down home trumpet. Double Rations brings Elise back for a piece built around a fantasy polyamorous relationship with the men on porridge boxes! Tanton blows a chorus showing that he knows his oats.

Jelly Roll Morton's Why?, one  of two non-originals, has vocal by Michael, clarinet by Keith, trumpet by Pete and a restrained trombone solo by Showtime. Ice Cream For Breakfast is a happy song sung by Elise with backing vocals from the band, swing violin from Katja, trumpet by Pete, tenor by Keith and all with that 1930s' swing feel. Little wonder that the swing dancers love this band!

After an opening riff from Broadway, Michael sings and plays You're Driving me Crazy leaning towards the Big Joe Turner version rather than that of the Temperance Seven - a wise decision. However it doesn't end there, Elise counters with a self-penned verse of her own! Tenor, trumpet and Broadway take it out.

Sorry You're Gone. After Elise's heartfelt vocal we hear from the horns, some honky-tonk piano and a brief burst on sousa. Suit of Roses. One of those will he? won't he? come back to me songs that, despite the sad and worried apprehension of the singer, moves merrily along.

A slow and bluesy Lowdown has piano and guitar giving Elise a shoulder to cry on.

Is there a better band in the world working this side of the street? If there is or if there ain't there can't be many. Maybe a corner bar in Chicago or a joint in Kansas City has a better band - maybe, I'm not holding my breath...

There's an album launch at Pilgrim on March 29 where you can see the band live and listen or dance or just chill out. Doors open at 4:00pm. Lance

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