Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 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

18918 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 782 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 18.) 61.

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

September.

Mon 28: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ Hepscott Parish Hall. 7:30pm. . £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Tue 29: Red Kites Jazz @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller's Rest, Cockerton, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. For one week only the rehearsal night will be at the Traveller's Rest (open to the public).
Wed 30: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ The Hearth, Horsley. 7:30pm. £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Wed 30: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 30: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds + Juliana Day & Manon McCoy + Helen Anahita Wilson @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. A BBC Introducing-Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

October

Thu 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Rivkala @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 01: Hot Club de Heaton @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 01: The Scenic Route @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Alison Gill + Markrokosmos @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music (NFOJAIM).
Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Gilby & Hunter + Andy Champion @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. The Abbie Finn Trio augmented by Dean Stockdale (piano).
Fri 02: Alexia Gardner Trio @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 02: Zoe Rahman Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 8:00pm. NFOJAIM. SOLD OUT!

Sat 03: New Orleans Ragtime Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club. Gavin Lee & co.
Sat 03: Anemone Quartet + Jeepe Zeeburg @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Caravan. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Free. Excellent blues band.
Sat 03: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.50 (inc. bf). Two sets: 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. ‘Swing Band Dance Night’.
Sat 03: Olie Brice Quartet + Alexander Hawkins + Harper Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:00pm. NFOJAIM.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 04: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Heugh Battery, Hartlepool. 11:00am-12 noon & 1:00-2:00pm.
Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 04: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Bill Watson (trumpet).
Sun 04: Sax Choir w. Rachel Musson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Rivkala + Ceitidh Mac + Thatcher & Knowles @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. A NFOJAIM event.
Sun 04: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED from September 27.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Frank Brooker @ Blaydon Jazz Club. November 24th

Frank Brooker (tenor saxophone & clarinet), James Birkett (guitar), Jeremy McMurray (piano), Mick Shoulder (double bass) & Tim Johnston (drums) + Bradley Johnston & James Birkett (guitars)
November 24th could mean only one thing - Christmas party time! Yes, a bit early for the tinsel 'n' all that but after the Arctic conditions this time last year Blaydon Jazz Club decided to play safe and get in there early. Temperatures were positively balmy and a good number of Blaydon regulars turned out. A sumptious buffet was assured thanks to the efforts of many to bring an offering to the table. 
Yorkshire's Frank Brooker made the journey north to have a bite to eat and play some jazz. Straight ahead, mainstream, swinging jazz, call it what you like it was first rate from start to finish. Just Friends, Meditation, In a Mellotone and Benny Carter's Only Trust Your Heart were just some of the first set tunes Brooker invited his friend James Birkett to revisit in relaxed fashion. 
House pianist Jeremy McMurray, a first class soloist in his own right, together with bassist Mick Shoulder and Tim Johnston (drums) ensured the evening would swing tastefully either side of the interval culinary feast. Brooker took a vocal on Sometimes I'm Happy as Birkett excelled with an extended solo topped off by some tasty chords. As the band ran through Oleo pianist McMurray couldn't resist alluding to Santa's Big Day with snatches of Jingle Bells and White Christmas - Yo, Ho, Ho!. 
A musical interval dessert was lapped up by all present - James Birkett reunited with fellow guitarist Bradley Johnston to waltz through John Lewis' Skating in Central Park and then, metaphorically speaking, dashed off to Chick Corea's Spain to nonchalantly dash off Spain. Now, we've come to expect this of Birkett (a virtuoso musician) yet it was something else to hear Johnson, in his teenage years, get to grips with the tune and stamp his own spirited sound on the piece. 
Foodies sated, raffle done, the second set began with Brooker picking up his clarinet to play Kurt Weill's Speak Low and Ellington's I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart (the latter featured a tremendous bluesy solo from Birkett). Switching once more to tenor, Brooker and the boys really did play the blues on Wardell Gray's Twisted. Mick Shoulder featured on this one and it was pretty much  a case of solos all round. Gershwin's Our Love is Here to Stay had everyone Relaxin' at Blaydon (if not Camarillo) and then it was time for a road journey or two. As Brooker and the boys breezed along Route 66, I took my leave to race along the A695. 
Blaydon Jazz Club goes into hibernation until March of next year. Make a date in that new 2012 diary - Thursday 8th March - and get along to hear the roaring big band sounds of the Customs House Big Band with the incomparable Ruth Lambert.
Russell.    
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1 comment :

Bradley Johnston (on Facebook). said...

What a night!

Friday, November 25, 2011 8:05:00 pm

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