PS: The queue for CDs and autographs at the end of the show was the longest I've ever known at The Sage... Janis plays the ARC Stockton on Tuesday night.
Link from Hil.
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Mon 16: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Swing Manouche @ Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. Blaydon Jazz Club.
Tue 17: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: Four @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, North Tyneside. 1:00pm.
Thu 19: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library. 3:00-5:00pm. £1.00. All welcome.
Thu 19: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Thu 19: Maine Street Jazzmen @ Sunniside Social Club, Gateshead. 8:30pm.
Thu 19: 58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm. TBC.
Fri 20: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Vicari (piano), Andy Champion (double bass), Abbie Finn (drums).
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 20: Swing Bridge @ Garden House Coffee, Hallgate, Hexham. 4:05pm.
Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30-8:30pm.
Fri 20: Customs House Big Band w Ruth Lambert @ Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £12.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club. Vicari (piano), Andy Champion (double bass), Abbie Finn (drums).
Sat 21: Elkie Brooks @ Whitley Bay Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Sat 21: Jools Holland’s R & B Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Sat 21: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 22 Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Foundry Jazz Ensemble @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 22: Abstract Orchestra plays J Dilla @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Sun 22: Panharmonia @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00 adv., £12.00. door.
Mon 23: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Sarah Ellen Hughes (vcl); Rick Simpson (pno); Paul Susans (bs); Darren Altman (dms).
Sarah Ellen Hughes soared and swooped over a wide vocal range with supple high notes and beguiling lower tones. Yes, this singer is really the business – she even sang some bits unaccompanied and included verse parts that you don’t often hear, such as the verse to Fascinating Rhythm. Don’t know about the rest of the people, but I have fun trying to guess which song the verse belongs to. And such a friendly lively personality, thanking us for being there and giving us insights into why she wrote those songs which had come from her own pen. She added to the proceedings by looking pleasing in a short brown and white dress with a rose pattern on the skirt, a red rose in her hair and red shoes. And to be fair and feminist, I’ll tell you that the men of the band were wearing smart suits and ties, except for Paul, who was all black in jumper and trousers, perhaps a code to show that he was not a regular member of the band. So they gave us a sense of occasion, and the occasion was partly to promote the new album The Story So Far, which is OUT NOW.
Numbers played included a soaring version of My Favourite Things; Ms Hughes original song Darning The Dream (about coming to terms with the death of her mother); a sexy version of Love For Sale (with some raunchy words added to it, from the pen of Sting); a lively Brazilian medley; and One Note Samba (an adventurous arrangement with some unaccompanied clapping from the whole band). My favourite of the original songs was Busy Bee, about working hard. The performance ended with Lady be Good, and the lady was good, as she once more treated us to her solo voice, the drummer did a stomping solo, and our singer and the bass swopped fours as if there was no tomorrow. I should have mentioned the band before – they did their stuff really well with lots of interesting solos. For instance, for the song Close To You, the piano introduction portrayed flying birds, then the song began by referring to these same birds.
The Community Room at the theatre was just about half full, but this performance deserved a much bigger audience. I wonder why? Is it the recession, or do jazz fans go elsewhere on Fridays? Anyone who likes skilled singing would have enjoyed this, not just jazz fans, so where were you?
Ann Alex.
Would like to endorse all that “JC” said. Loved the gig and meant to send a review (but still haunted by builders)!
Titles were: Meditation / A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square / Stella by Starlight / Blueswalk / I Can’t give You Anything But Love / One-note Samba / Skating in
Jerry.