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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

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Killer Shrimp @ Corner House, Newcastle. November 26th

Damon Brown (trumpet, loops & vocals), Ed Jones (tenor saxophone & loops), Mark Hodgson (double bass) & Luke Flowers (drums).
The cold spell continued. From the outside the Corner House never looked so inviting. The band arrived on time - would the audience?
Minutes before the off one hardy soul had arrived (huskies happy to rest up outside). Thirty minutes past the supposed first set start time sufficient numbers had congregated to constitute something resembling an audience.
The band, professional to the last, played a blinder.
So, you thought the big attraction would be drum maestro Alyn Cosker? Read on. Front line leaders trumpeter Damon Brown and tenor man Ed Jones brought a new sound to Newcastle. Firmly rooted in bop territory, added elements gave the band and listeners something a little different. Hip Hop, drums 'n' bass, loops and a Brown vocal reggae number were incorporated into the collective sound of the quartet. The wonders of laptop electronics, used sparingly, on occasion morphed Brown and Jones' sound into something akin to that of steel pans! This was post electric Hancock and similar to the guitar synth sound of which John McLaughlin was once so fond.
Tunes old and new included It Never Happened, Baltic Wharf (how appropriate given the arctic conditions in the north east!), Lef An Lee (celebrating the talents of pianist Leon Greening), Sticks and Stones and others ensured this was a gig to remember.
Bassist Mark Hodgson coped admirably with the new musical elements thrown at him and the star of the show (for this reviewer) was drummer Luke Flowers. He has played with the band many times. His credits include working with the wonderful Corrine Bailey Rae and the Cinematic Orchestra. Flowers is a superb technician with an in built sense of time. He can, seemingly, play any style, any tempo, all done with great taste. As one astute listener said to me 'Flowers is a better fit (than Cosker) in this band'. I couldn't disagree.
An excellent night. The concert was a Jazz North East presentation. The promoters' next offering is at Gateshead Old Town Hall (Friday 3rd December) featuring Ig Henneman's Kindred Spirits. An On the Outside event, the line-up is star-studded to say the least. For those with musically adventurous ears this is one not to miss.
As I write the blizzards threaten a white out. Round up those huskies, don't be deterred and get to Gateshead Old Town Hall next week (Friday 3rd, 8:00 pm prompt).
Russell.

1 comment :

Lance said...

Not having any huskies I attempted to harness Ginger the cat to a sleigh but he was having none of it. Cat's are obviously much wiser than huskies!
Interesting to see mention of Leon Greening - he is one pianoman I'd love to hear again. Doesn't seem to venture north very often.

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