Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 2026)

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

18532 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 396 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 15) 50

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

From This Moment On

May

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Mon 18: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 18: Mark Williams Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 19: GoGo Penguin + Daudi Matsiko @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £22.00 + £4.40 bf.
Tue 19: Danny Lowndes’ Hot Club @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £5.00 bf.
Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Mark Robertson (drums).

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: Jordan Jackson @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.80 (inc. bf); £15.40 (inc. bf).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Jazz Classics with Rivkala @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Rivkala (vocals); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 21: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 22: Paul Skerritt @ Market Place, Durham. From 12 noon. Free. Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.
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: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 22: Paul Edis Trio @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £TBC. Edis, Andy Champion, Steve Hanley.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Bobby McFerrin @ The Sage, Gateshead. Saturday Jan 16.

A very enjoyable concert - 90 minutes uninterupted - 1 man, 1 stage and 1 mic with which he did a whole lot with!
Plenty of audience participation made it feel more like an interactive masterclass than a gig.
After singing/beatboxing "Sweet Home Chicago" - which was amazing - he asked if anyone would like to get up and dance so he could interpret their dancing through the medum of the voice. Two young ladies stepped up to the plate - one like a free form ballerina and another who could really groove. A gent also strutted his stuff.
This concert was really for singers though - Bobby asked for 12 people to come on stage and form a choir. It ended up with about 50 who were conducted through some impromptu vocal gymnastics. Later on, he also dueted with a guy from the crowd who had brought with him an interesting instrument shaped like a flying saucer (a 'hang' drum) which sounded out of this world! A beatboxing fella also took to the stage - he was so good he even surprised Bobby!
The audience were then asked to sing "Ave Maria" over top of the Bach Prelude no.1 that Bobby was singing. You could tell there were many accomplished singers as not only did they know the melody of Ave Maria but it sounded really beautiful (search for 'Bobby McFerrin Ave Maria' on YouTube). His tip to singers in the audience was to learn some Bach preludes as it improves your intonation.
Some notable songs he did was an original, 'Drive my car', and an excellent interpretation of 'Blackbird' by the Beatles. He finished with a condensed version of the 'Wizard of Oz' - difficult to describe, got see it to believe it.
My only disappointment was that he never sang "Thinkin' About Your Body" when requested - instead, for an encore he sang "My Favourite Things" and the night ended with a standing ovation.
Bobby dazzled and excited throughout. I recommend anyone to catch him during this tour which has just started.
Chris Finch.
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1 comment :

Pedro I. said...

Nice to read your impressions. I was there as well, and it was incredible to me because I've ended up doing the first vocal improvisation with him!

So I'm super-happy. Just wondering if anyone could record anything! Cheers man, bye

Tuesday, January 19, 2010 2:27:00 pm

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