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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Whitley Bay International Jazz Festival Day 3 - Evening

La Retaguardia Jazz Band (Chile) - pictured above.
Matthias Seuffert Sextet and Cecile McLorin Salvant (International) - pictured left.
Matthias Seuffert (ten), Jean-Francoise Bonnel (tpt/ten), Martin Litton (pno), Martin Wheatley (gtr), Malcolm Sked (bs), Nick Ward (dms), AND Cecile McLorin Salvant.
For me, if there has to be one defining moment of this happy festival (happy yet sad that there will be no more) it was the set I caught by Matthias and that wonderful singer Cecile McLoen Salvant.
I missed her previous sessions which were tributes to Billie and Bessie but I praised the Lord for passing me the ammunition to catch this one.
Okay so I only heard three numbers by her but I loved every one. Everything I Have Is Yours, Anything Goes (including the verse) I even forgave her for taking a breath in the middle eight! (it's not easy - try it) and a gorgeous rendition of Born To Be Blue.
This was superb songstering - sheer poetry. Needless to say I hurried back for the second set but the word was out and Kelly's Stables was full.
In the photo above the audience appear to be looking elsewhere, - this was due to the fact I had to take the picture via a mirror.
I'll repeat the name Cécile McLorin Salvant - YouTube her here. On this particlular clip Jean-Francoise Bonnell plays piano. Tonight he played tenor and cornet truly an amazing player!
Matthias blew good tenor on what was ostensibly a tribute to Don Byas. I wondered if this was the first time a Tadd Dameron tune - Good Bait - had been played at Whitley Bay?
This was good middle of the road stuff. Matthias said, and I quote, "We're usually considered too modern for the classic jazz festivals and not modern enough for the modern jazz festivals."
He'll do for me!
The other band I caught tonight was La Retaguardia Jazz Band from Chile.
Hard to believe that, only a few miles away, another Chilean, saxist Claude Werner, was playing at The Trojan Rooms, Whitley Bay, as part of a fringe festival.
La Retaguardia opened up with spirited versions of Wang Wang Blues and Stevedore Stomp delighting the large audience and proving that this really was an international festival. Excellent interpreters of classic jazz, they are based in Santiago and appear regularly on Chilean TV - take note BBC and ITV. I wanted to stay longer but the appeal of Cecile was too strong and I left to return to Kelly's Stables but, alas, there was no room at the inn.
Nevertheless, this effected me the opportunity to chat with Colin Aitchison, Our Man In Hong Kong, over here on a flying visit. No doubt Colin will be dropping in somewhere for a jam. With him was his nephew who is also a BSH visitor.
That's the beauty of Festivals and concerts - you always meet someone unexpected - and vice versa!
There was more Jazzfall this past weekend in and around the Coast than you get in the average month.
Lance.
PS:All may not be lost for the future. Organiser Mike Durham, providing he gets enough interest, has outlined plans for a JAZZ PARTY at the same venue on the 4-6 of November 2011. I'll be posting more details shortly.

1 comment :

noushka said...

A Sailboat in the moonlight and you, Tribute to Billie Holiday
http://www.facebook.com/#!/video/video.php?v=416233326459&oid=91069268131

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