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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

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Norma Winstone Trio/Charles Lloyd Quartet @ The Barbican

Norma Winstone (vcl), Klaus Gesing (bs clt/sop), Glauco Venier (pno).
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Charles Lloyd (ten), Jason Moran (pno), Reuben Rogers (bs), Eric Harland (dms).
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I don't think I've heard Norma to such advantage. Her sound, her pitching, the timbre of the voice was as near to perfection as anything I've heard from her yet. This wasn't happy music - it was dark and sombre, not like the blues, more related to a Gothic poet such as Keats or Shelley. The voice filled the vast chasm it created beautifully. Alongside, the bass clarinet added it's own portent of doom whilst the piano provided haunting support.
Even the popular song Everybody's Talkin' took on a completely new identity.
This really was something else.
During the interval the queue for the CD that provided the material - Stories Yet To Tell - stretched to the coast (a slight exageration I admit) and the trio happily signed copies until the bell went for Round Two.
After Norma's set and Piero Odorici's tenor playing last night, Charles Lloyd faced a bar that was almost impossibly high and in my eyes at least he failed to clear it.
The sound was pure but so it should be for a guy who plays so many long notes! Not that there was anything wrong with his playing but each number seemed to drag on for an eternity before anything happened.
I Fall In Love Too Easily was the exception. This was a masterpiece beginning soft and mellow building up to a frenetic climax from Lloyd before Moran took over and upped the tempo. Wow!
If only there had been more like it. As the night drew on I began looking at my watch more frequently mentally calculating whether I could catch the last set at The Spice.
In the end I decided to go for it.
Earlier, on the Freestage, I enjoyed listening to the Kairos 4Tet (pict right) in the company of the Good Doctor Nicola, The 'Pres' of Chile Claude and ex-pat Ben Gilbert.
Despite my reservations it was a good evening much appreciated by the crowd.
Why don't all jazz gigs pull such large numbers?
Lance.

1 comment :

. said...

But but but.. quality, not necessarily quantity. Jazz (don't you just love her?) is private, intimate, intelligent, personal dialogue between individual and 'her'. In a crowded room one can easily shut out everything and focus solely on that out of this world dialogue. I wish I was there.

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