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Bebop Spoken There

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Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Jo Harrop & Paul Edis @ The Jazz Café - July 27

Jo Harrop (vocals) & Paul Edis (piano)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
The second of four engagements in her native north east for London based Jo Harrop. Newcastle’s Jazz Café reunited vocalist Harrop with pianist Paul Edis for a duo performance of classic material ranging from Ellington to Gershwin, Legrand to Mancini. Four gigs in a whirlwind three days (two in Newcastle, one in Durham and a first appearance at Ushaw) working with some of the region’s top flight musicians enabled Ms Harrop to reunite with family and friends making for an extended social occasion.
This Thursday evening gig at the Jazz Café attracted a select audience. It is rare to hear a pin drop at a gig but this was the exception with an attentive audience hanging on every note. Ellington’s All Too Soon opened the programme signalling two sets of classic material. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Let’s Fall in Love, an infallible ear and enviable range confirm Harrop as being in the top echelon of jazz singers. The carefree, the melancholic – Let’s Get Lost, Don’t Be That Way – pitch-perfect Harrop was a joy to listen to. The other half of this Jazz Café equation, Dr Paul Edis, knows how to coax a tune from the Pink Lane upright. Edis provided immaculate accompaniment and, on several occasions, crafted magical solos peppered with impressive stride patterns.      

Harrop and Edis hail from County Durham yet it wasn’t until they studied in London that their paths first crossed. Black Coffee, smoky, late night stuff, an uplifting Time After Time with Edis unable to resist quoting from Singin’ in the Rain, this was a duo working hand-in-glove, masterful musicians in our midst.

Two or three in the Jazz Café hadn’t previously heard Jo Harrop sing. To coin a phrase, they were       ‘gob-smacked’. Here in the north east we’re lucky to have a clutch of fabulous singers, Jo Harrop is most definitely one of them, albeit domiciled in London. Tea for Two, sentimental maybe, but given a superb treatment courtesy of Harrop and Edis, Too Darn Hot, Michel Legrand’s You Must Believe in Spring, this an evening of intimate jazz performance. April in Paris, Fine and Mellow, never mind a second set, how about a third? So good was it that one didn’t want it to end. Mean to Me, But Not For Me (superb), I Ain’t Got Nothing But the Blues.
The following afternoon the action moved to Durham's Gala Theatre (tickets sold out weeks ago). In due course be sure to read Brain Ebbatson’s Gala review of the duo right here at Bebop Spoken Here.            
Russell.

1 comment :

Patti D (on F/b) said...

This was a top class gig - and for me, the first time hearing Jo - like others, I was GOBSMACKED! What a voice - such control, and perfect nuanced phrasing - wonderful!

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