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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. 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

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Tim Garland, Jim Mullen, Andy Champion and Adrian Tilbrook @ The Bridge.

Tim Garland (ten/sop); Jim Mullen (gtr); Andy Champion (bs); Adrian Tilbrook (dms).
GIG OF THE YEAR? For me all bets are off - this was it! Never have so many enthusiasts been crammed into the small confines of the Bridge Hotel for a Splinter gig and justifiably so. Such was the ambiance created between band and listener that I didn't allow myself to ponder the question as to where were you all the rest of the year?
From the opening Invitation to the closing Caravan we were treat to virtuoso playing by all four participants. None of the "and now here is another composition of mine..." syndrome but instead straight down the middle tried and tested tunes that never stopped swinging.
In a Sentimental Mood had been played earlier by Pete Gilligan at the Jazz Café but this was something else again and this is no reflection on Pete.
Jim Mullen is such a melodic player I could wallow in his lyricism for eternity yet when the chips are down he can put the boot in as hard as anyone.
Tim Garland, bobbing and weaving like a fighter preparing to land the killer punch, took the tenor on a wild journey that had many deviant variations yet never lost its way.
Andy and Adrian - homegrown talent - were far from outshone and contributed on an equal basis with the visitors to make this such a memorable evening. Imagine if they'd had a rehearsal!
To top this, Stan Tracey at The Sage tomorrow (Monday Dec. 19) is going to have to play like he's never played before and on Thursday, also at The Sage, Christine Tobin too is going to have it all to do. But who knows what yet may happen before the year is over.
Photos.
Lance.

4 comments :

stevebfc said...

Great atmosphere great players but lack of original material (for obvious reasons) means it could only be gig of 1961 not 2011!

Lance said...

An interesting point Steve. However, as the tune/theme is but something for the soloist to hang his hat on and 12/32 or whatever bars later only the harmonic structure remains is it that important whether it be a standard or "one wot I wrote yesterday"?
Lance.
PS: As a matter of interest Steve, what was your "Gig of the Year"?

Anonymous said...

Methinks stevebfc is slightly missing the improvisational point of jazz.
But I have to admit I did think for ages that Julie Andrews had stolen that tune from Coltrane.
But anyway, it couldn't have been 1961, no self respecting jazzman of the time would have been seen dead in a t-shirt like TG's.
PS - my gig of the year in 1961 was the Billy Cotton Band Show

stevebfc said...

Thanks Anonymous for explaining the improvisational point of Jazz for all these years I thought the musicans were just playing the notes in slightly the wrong order.

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