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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 2025).

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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00. CANCELLED!

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.
Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

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

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Ruth Lambert Quartet @ The Cherry Tree

Ruth Lambert (vcl), Paul Edis (pno), Mick Shoulder (bs), Rob Walker (dms).
Lance built up this gig and the expected gastonomic treats: the evening lived up to billing on both counts.
Three sentences (one of Dickensian length) on my choice of food should suffice.
Squid starter - brilliant (that's Pinteresque brevity)!
Pudding - Spiced Plum Crumble and double cream - crunched as well as crumbled and was spicy enough to prepare you for the mean streets where gritters were already out (increasing verbosity)!
As for the main course: chefs and jazz musicians are alike - they are alchemists transforming the known and familiar into unexpected delights; if "haddock" prompts images of batter, chips and mushy peas, try "Roast Haddock with Savoy Cabbage, Morteaux Sausage, Bacon & Red Wine" - amazing -think of rich, warming Coq au Vin, but with delicious, flaky haddock, and you are getting close. A great winter dish: how do they do it at the price? (Sorry - four sentences and one of them is a cheat, grammar-wise!)
Ruth, relaxed from the start, was in excellent voice throughout and was more than ably supported by the band. Easing into the evening with the silky-smooth "You and the night....", they worked through a lovely selection of standards such as "The way you look tonight" and "Long ago and far away" as well as some I'd not heard before such as the ballad, "But beautiful". I'm always amazed at the cleverness of the lyrics: "Santa Baby" and "Let's do it.." can raise a smile on the printed page - well-performed they are little gems. No modern lyricists, in any genre, come close in my opinion.
All of love's paradoxes were there in the set-lists: "I fall in love too easily" being followed immediately by "Let's do it, let's fall in love", but I suppose there is logic in yearning for "Someone to watch over me" after chronicling "A day in the life of a fool". In spite of the vicissitudes of love and the recent monsoon weather, optimism prevailed in "Wrap your troubles in dreams" which reminds us that "sunshine always follows the rain": Paul, enjoying having a baby-grand to play, also managed to sneak "Somewhere over the rainbow" into a second half solo (or did I imagine it?)
My pick of the night has to be "Santa Baby". Ruth was grateful for the restaurant's Christmas tree legitimising a song which she would "gladly sing all the year round". The way Ruth sings it, I, for one, would gladly hear it all the year round. Reserving it for Christmas?? Bah, humbug!
Jerry Edis.

2 comments :

Lance said...

Thank you Jerry - sounds like I really did miss a good one. The quote re Chefs and jazz musicians is brilliant and should be emblazened above the stage!
I don't suppose you'll still want the bag of crisps I owe you!

John Taylor said...

So that was Pauls family two tables from us. I must say I agree with everything he said. Only one small problem - the background music in the interval. It was erratic. Tracks from Jamie Cullem - not a match for Paul and co.

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