Preview: The Lazy River Jazz Band @ The Exchange, North Shields - Feb 27

(Preview by Russell)

In North Shields on Wednesday (Feb 27) there is a one-off opportunity to attend a Dixieland jazz band's rehearsal session. The long-established Lazy River Jazz Band is shortly to entertain locals and tourists alike on the Costa Del Sol and North Shields' Exchange cafe/bar is the place to catch them in action before they set-off. 

Chris Perrin founded the band in 1983 and from its north west of England base the eight-piece - as it is likely to be on Wednesday - has played countless gigs, some of them with stellar guest names such as Rico Tomasso. Perrin (reeds) fronts the band alongside Veronica Perrin (trumpet, vocals). Chris has worked with Brian Carrick (Algiers Stompers), as has trombonist John Crisp (Carrick's Heritage Hall Stompers) who will be in North Shields on the night. 

Ned Kelly Rides Again

Nice to have a visit to Neds [Ned Kelly's Last Stand] of Pug Wilber vocalist wife of Bob Wilber plus Mark Hodgson jazz trio bandleader on the Queen Mary, and trombonist Bradley Schmidt who is joining the Queen Mary  — with Bradley Schmidt.
Colin Aitchison (on F/b).

Andy Rides Again

Escaping into music has always been a boon to me. Sitting down and playing a bit of Mozart, Gershwin or Ragtime - doesn't really matter which. Other parts of the brain come into play and the inanities of (even at a distance) Brexit watching evaporate.

Playing in a band adds further dimensions, and our new band (of vintage players) will hit the bars and stages of Singapore in the near future.

Playing Rock 'n' Roll standards and enjoying the repartee of the guys who have trodden the boards for many years - some of us were actually there in the '60s. Great fun - Loving it.

Andy Hudson (on F/b).

Black Swan Jam Session - Feb. 19

(Review by Lance).

PHOTOS.

Just another night at the Black Swan jam session, or so it seemed. The house trio of Brad, Paul and Russ got things going with an original by Brad, For Joe, dedicated to Joe Pass. A super swinging version of 'S Wonderful and a nod towards Django with Nuages. Easthope blew tenor on what sounded like a Messengers' tune, newcomer Brito made an impressive debut with Doxy and Blue Bossa before the earth moved when Dulcie May Moreno - all the way from Kent - sang Louis Jordan's Trouble Ain't no Satisfaction and Pennies From Heaven. A class act indeed!

Martin Waugh - all the way from Edinburgh - played My Little Suede Shoes and Doc Summers popped up wielding a baritone sax. As the evening progressed his horns grew smaller, unlike Ray Burns who started out playing harmonica - it eventually morphed into an accordion. They did a job on September in the Rain.

Cross Border Culture: Jeffery Hewer Quartet @ Zeffirelli's, Ambleside - Feb. 16

Jeffrey Hewer (guitar); Sam Quintana (bass); Alec Robinson (piano); Steve Hanley (drums).

(Review by Hugh C)

The Abbot Hall Art Gallery in Kendal has a track record of staging interesting and thought-provoking exhibitions.  Refuge: The Art of Belonging tells the story of artists who entered Britain as a result of Nazi occupation and does not disappoint (***** Recommended).  An email from a hotel in Ambleside with an inviting low season offer encouraged our first visit to Cumbria this year, over the Pennines on the A686, perhaps England’s most scenic road, stopping in Kendal on the way.

What to do on Saturday evening?  A quick consultation of the Zeffirellis website offered the chance of a FREE (as in gratuite) jazz gig at 8.30pm -  The Jeffrey Hewer Quartet were in the jazz bar, and a table for two was available one-quarter of an hour before.  We arrived a little early and were offered a choice of tables, we selected to sit near the band for a good view, just next to the fine Wendl and Lung baby grand piano installed in the venue.

CD Review: Doug MacDonald Quartet - Organisms

Doug MacDonald (guitar); Carey Frank (B3); Bob Sheppard (tenor sax); Ben Scholz (drums).

(Review by Lance).

It seemed for a while that, with the passing of B3 legends such as McDuff, McGriff, Holmes and Smith, the organ had already gotten one foot out of the groove and into the grave. Fortunately, judging by the CDs I've been receiving recently, the venerable Hammond B3 is well and truly back in business. 

In a week's time (Feb. 26) Booker T is at Sage Gateshead clashing with local hero Gerry Richardson who's up-river at The Fox in Hexham on the same night. Brian Auger is still pedalling at home and abroad, whilst Joey DeFrancesco continues to dominate the polls in America and Ross Stanley and James Taylor keep the UK flag flying.

Jam Today, Jam Tomorrow, Jam the day after

Below is an update on the current jam session scene in and around Tyne and Wear. Sitters-in are invited and encouraged. However, because of the unpredictability of jam sessions, it's best to get there early and make yourself known or else you may be overlooked. It's also advisable, because of the ephemeral nature of jams to ring first if you are planning a long trip (some travel from Edinburgh, Birmingham, Leeds, London and Boston, Mass as well as Australia!) For listeners, remember that jams are like Tom Hanks' famous quote in the film Forrest Gump: “My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.”  It's the same sense of the unknown that attracts so many of us to a jam session.

Sundays

Jazz Social - Charts, Quayside, Newcastle NE1 3DX. Tel: 0191 338 7989. 4:00pm. Free. Weekly (apart from last Sunday in the month?)

DU Jazz Soc jam session - Fabio’s Bar, Saddler St, Durham DH13NP. Tel: 0191 383 9290. 7:30pm. Free. Weekly during term time.

Am Jam - The Globe, 11 Railway Street, Newcastle NE4 7AD. 3:00pm. Free.

Second Sunday in the month.

East Coast Jazz - Exchange, Howard Street, North Shields NE30 1SE.

Tel: 0191 258 4111. 6:00pm. Free. Monthly jam session (third Sunday).

Sunday Jazz Social - Fire Station, High St West, Sunderland SR1 3DT. Tel: 0191 594 7241.  3:00-5:00pm. Last Sunday in the month jam session.

More Jam - The Globe, 11 Railway Street, Newcastle NE4 7AD. 3:00pm. Free.

Fourth Sunday in the month.

Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Beaumont Hotel, Hexham - Feb 18

Dean Stockdale (piano); Giles Strong (guitar); Mick Shoulder (double bass)

A Monday evening jazz gig at Hexham's Beaumont Hotel featuring an ace piano trio attracted a good number of diners and a few discerning listeners nursing a solitary drink. 

Pianist Dean Stockdale met up with guitarist Giles Strong and bassist Mick Shoulder to play a selection of GASbook numbers in laid back style. Gershwin, of course, Richard Rodgers, Billy Taylor (I Wish I Knew), Monk (deserving of GASbook status), all played with the sensitivity one has come to expect of Messrs Stockdale, Strong and Shoulder. 

Allendale Brewery's Golden Plover is an ever-present on the bar (very much a local beer in these parts) and on the night it pipped Mordue's Workie Ticket. The trio fed and watered, the music resumed with three fine solos on Don't Get Around Much Anymore. A further round of first-rate solos followed on a swift Lady be Good and the evening's entertainment concluded with Witchcraft. Next week's jazz offering is the fine guitar duo of Giles Strong and Roly Veitch, seven 'til nine. 
Russell

Ragtime Pete @ Central Station - Feb 18

Waiting for the train to Hexham for tonight's Beaumont Hotel jazz gig your correspondent heard Pete from Bromsgrove playing Maple Leaf Rag on Newcastle Central Station's 'have-a-go' piano. A fine pianist is Pete! 

Russell

East Coast Jazz Jam @ The Exchange, North Shields - Feb 17

Keith Barrett (guitar); 

Bernie Ranson (tenor sax, keyboards); Andrew Porritt (double bass); Sam Young (drums) + Jude Murphy (alto sax, flute, vocals); Dave Weisser (cornet, vocals); Johannes Dalhuijsen (tenor sax, soprano sax)

(Review by Russell)

The East Coast Jazz Jam is a monthly, early evening jam session 'down at the coast'. The Exchange in North Shields stages a wide range of events (theatre, music, cinema) including a couple of jam sessions - one jazz, one blues. Last night, the third Sunday in the month, it was the turn of the former, the jazz jam.

Frog and Henry @ St Augustine's Parish Centre, Darlington - Feb 16

Ewan Bleach (soprano sax, baritone sax, bass sax, clarinet, vocals); Laurin Hebart (alto sax, tenor sax, clarinet); FH Henry (guitar, banjo, vocals); Kerman Arken (violin, vocals); Dave Neigh (tuba machine, banjo)

(Review by Russell) 

Frog and Henry are in the vanguard of a younger generation of musicians seeking something other than being considered 'hip' or 'cool'. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club's faith in the music paid off handsomely with a large turnout at St Augustine's on Larchfield Street. 

Frontman Ewan Bleach introduced the numbers and, along the way, introduced his bandmates - two of them hailing from Canada, one from Germany and an American from the state of Tennessee. Bleach, from the Deep South (Oxford, to be precise) played no fewer than four reeds - soprano, baritone and bass saxophones and clarinet - and, sitting to his right, Laurin Hebart played alto and tenor saxophones and clarinet, the pair of them just about covering all the reeds. 

Going for a Burton? - Latest update

(Press release)

Burton Agnes Jazz and Blues Festival are delighted to announce more artists have been confirmed and added to the line-up of their thirteenth summer festival.

Bringing a jazz-rock element are the some of the North's most creatively diverse young musicians who form the band Artephis – a favourite of Jamie Cullum and a new band for Burton Agnes.

The Mark Williams Trio, a Jazz, blues, rock, fusion outfit are also new to Burton Agnes although not to festivals to which they have played many, both national and international.

More 2019 artists and headliners will be announced over the coming weeks - to keep up to date please visit: https://www.burtonagnes.com/Jazz_Festival/Line_Up.html

www.facebook.com/BurtonAgnesJazzBluesFestival/