Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Bellavana @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30-10:00pm. Free. A Late Shows event.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

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, December 10, 2011

Jazz Child: The Story of Sheila Jordan

Sheila Jordan is one of the vocal icons of jazz. As music critic Robert Palmer raved in The New York Times, “Her ballad performances are simply beyond the emotional and expressive capabilities of most other vocalists.” 
As a jazz vocalist and colleague of Sheila, Ellen Johnson brings her own professional expertise through the organization of the book and her knowledge of the specific subject matter, which reaches out to both the music community and the general public. Bringing Sheila Jordan’s message to the world through this book has been her goal and passion, cumulating in research for the last six years. She emerged on the jazz scene during the beginning of the bebop era, created as a revolt against restrictions on creative freedom. Her mentor and best friend, one of the most prominent artists and the main musical founder of bebop, was alto saxophonist Charlie Parker. Through her devotion to Parker, Jordan etched out a niche in the jazz world, becoming the first jazz singer to record on Blue Note Records (Portrait of Sheila, 1962). She was Lennie Tristano’s most celebrated jazz student, the only singer George Russell ever arranged for, the innovator of bass and voice duets (her very first with bassist Charles Mingus), and one of the precursors to free jazz singing. Her story, told here for the first time, is rich with depth, humor, and honesty. 
Besides its historic content, this book is both a narrative and the memoir of a courageous woman who battled against racism during the 1950s, raised a biracial daughter alone, and made a successful recovery from alcohol and drug addiction. At eighty-two, Sheila has an indomitable spirit; her faith in the music she dedicated her life to continues to be heard as she travels around the world, “carrying the message” through graciously paying homage to the great jazz artists she personally knew, singing songs about Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Lennie Tristano, Don Cherry, Thelonious Monk, and, of course, Charlie Parker.
Having made twenty-three solo recordings and thirty-five as a guest artist, Sheila Jordan can be heard daily on jazz stations throughout the world. She is known to be the most highly respected of jazz singers and educators, with a large following of professional singers, musicians, and students whom she has mentored over the years. She is always in demand internationally for conferences, jazz festivals, high-profile concerts, and jazz education workshops.
----- 
Taken from Facebook this is one book I must read and I think anyone who heard Sheila at the Gateshead Jazz Festival a couple of years back will agree, Lance.

2 comments :

Roly said...

Yes - she's one of the absolute greats. That late night session at GJF was one of those you'll never forget.
Roly

Ellen Johnson said...

The book will be out sometime in 2014. For more info or to get on the mail list go to: https://www.facebook.com/JazzChildAportraitofsheilajordan

Ellen

Blog Archive