Sunday night @ the Globe: Freight Train Jazz Meets Folk - Jan. 19

Christine Tobin (voice); Liam Noble (piano, synth); Paul Clarvis (drums)

An interesting, unusual and not unpleasant gig by a trio that did what it said on the tin as well as injecting a few sub-genres. Tobin has a pleasing voice that is equally suited to the varied material presented be it blues, swing, jazz, contemporary pop or Irish traditional folk - the list is endless.

The strange part of the equation was the seamless joining of the songs, done three at a time with little or no space in between for the applause they deserved.

R.I.P. Kenny Kirsopp (? - Jan. 19, 2025)

Last night I was told that north east sax player Kenny Kirsopp was seriously ill. I was shocked then and, when I learned this afternoon that he'd actually died last night (Jan. 19), I was completely stunned.

Although I knew his parents well (family friends and, like my parents, members of Hebburn Amateur Operatic Society) it wasn't until Kenny enrolled at Newcastle's prestigious College of Arts and Technology (CAT) that I really got to know him, mainly from when he came into J.G. Windows buying reeds and various other sax accessories.

The Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle - Jan. 19

© Patti

Charles Dearness (cornet); Stephen Feast (clarinet); Paddy Darley (trombone); John Youngs (banjo, vocals); Rory Clark (sousaphone) + Midas the dog

The Tenements arrived at Prohibition Bar with their new recruit in tow. Midas, the new recruit, immediately made himself at home, stretching out on the floor and promptly falling asleep. Having arrived from Cambridge via a spell busking in York, some of the band sought 'refreshments'. The Forth, on the other side of the lane, offered said refreshments, the advertised seven o'clock start came and went, and, at a quarter past, the band reappeared, ready to go. Dusty Rag signalled the start of the first of two sets.

The Adrian Cox Trio @ The Pizza Express, Soho - Jan. 18

Adrian Cox (clarinet, vocals); Alex 'Honey' Boulton (guitar, vocals); Alex Gilson (double bass)

A Saturday night out in Soho. The Dog and Duck for a pint of London Pride, the place packed to the gunnels, the dated pop music playing over the sound system at a level requiring patrons to bellow at a companion sitting/standing at 0.5 metres' distance. Out on the street it was easier/necessary to walk in the road thanks to the hordes bustling/sauntering along the pavements.

Turning onto Dean Street, our destination was up ahead, but one minute's walk. The Pizza Express was doing good business, upstairs and downstairs. Upstairs it was pizza, pizza, pizza. Downstairs it was jazz, jazz, jazz, and a pizza or two. The sold out first house had been and gone, we were here for the second sold out house featuring the Adrian Cox Trio.

Martin Speake resignation

© Sheila Herrick

The Martin Speake situation is, frankly, appalling. How such a respected jazz musician and educator can be thrown on the musical/educational scrapheap without support from his educational employers, Trinity Laban, beggars belief. Speake a racist? No way.

I hope his court action against Trinity is successful, even though there may be further repercussions effecting the whole future of jazz education at Trinity and the other conservatoires that are currently supporting them.

DETAILS. Lance 

Jazz Time Aycliffe Radio - Sundays 6.30-8.00pm (repeated Tuesdays 8.00-9.30pm)

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen

Playlist 19/01/25 (repeated Tuesday 21/01/25)

Jan 20 is Martin Luther King Day: Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, John Coltrane, Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Max Roach.

Requests: Kid Ory, Dexter Gordon.

New Release: Fabienne Ambuehl.

What’s happening: Bridget Metcalfe, SNJO, Matt Camichael/Fergus McCreadie, Tam White/Brian Kellock.

MLK Day: Charles Mingus.

Aycliffe Radio is available on DAB in County Durham & the Darlington Area.

Preview: Sunday night @ the Globe - Freight Train

Publicity shot

Freight Train, featuring legendary musicians Christine Tobin (vocals); Liam Noble (keys) and Paul Clarvis (drums), incorporates an intriguing mix of jazz and folk. The late Ann Alex was an enthusiastic supporter of both genres and reviewed several concerts by Christine Tobin at what was then Sage Gateshead and her favourable comments on Christine were fully justified.

Combined with two outstanding musicians, themselves no strangers to the north east and fully paid up members of the UK's jazz hierarchy, this looks to be an exciting gig. Lance

Preview: The Tenements head South to Prohibition Bar (Jan. 19)

The Tenement Jazz Band is one of the great success stories of the Scottish jazz scene. Formed in 2018, the Edinburgh based outfit wasted little time, gigging and busking, whenever and wherever. Newcastle's Prohibition Bar became a regular port of call and the band's first CD, Wiggle, sold like hotcakes. 

Just in case you hadn't noticed ...

7,000,000 and counting!

Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits For No Man @ the Lit & Phil - Jan. 17

Lindsay Hannon (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Brendan Murphy (variou percussion items)

I hold my hand up and confess that Tom Waits' voice grates on me. I'm in a minority of one but, there you are. However, as a composer and a writer of lyric poetry it is a different matter. His streetwise words are up there alongside those of Dylan and Cohen. He's a hardboiled novel set to music.

Bypass the composer and give his raw sentiments to someone who can sing and you've got a recipe that is very palatable indeed. 

Lindsay Hannon is that singer! A singer who conveys the emotions expressed as if they were her own. The sold-out Lit & Phil audience concurred with much deserved applause at the end of her 14 song, one hour, set.