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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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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