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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington (National Trust), Cambo, Morpeth NE61 4AR. 12 noon & 2:00pm. Admission to site £19.00.
Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Archie Brown & Friends @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00-8:00pm. Free.

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

Friday, March 30, 2012

Jason Isaacs - Swing Fever. Newcastle City Hall, Saturday March 24.

Jason Isaacs (vcl) w. Dave Connelly Big Band inc.  Lewis Watson, Ray Dales, Mick Donnelly (reeds); Neil Harland (bs), Simon Ferry (dms), Stu Collingwood (keys). 
Photo courtesy of Bish.
JASON Isaacs must have been a happy man after Saturday night’s polished performance at the City Hall - he’s landed a recording contract on the back of it - but no happier than his growing legions of fans for whom he put on a cracking show.
Backed by the Dave Connolly Big Band, Isaacs made the night go with a rollicking swing. I’ve seen him a good half a dozen times at this level of venue, and tonight was the show where, for me, he really came of age, putting on an evening that could give the likes of big-time boy Michael Buble a run for his money, which is saying something.
Jason’s voice has matured to a level where he can handle the smoothest crooning tunes with goose-pimple finesse, but can also belt out classics from the Swing Fever era in a way that makes the stringent no-dance policy at the venue look mean.
He’s become a very confident entertainer, too; funny, visual (check out those high kicks) and very, very charming - what more could his adoring lady and male fans want? An album, perhaps.
Well, it looks like that’s now on the cards, too. Former Metro Radio boss Giles Squire has taken a shine to Jason, having promised him that if he filled the venue, he’d line up a recording.
The night kicked off with a thumping rendition of In The Mood played by a very capable big band that doubles with Jason all over the country these days. Enter Isaacs, bounding onto the stage with Luck Be A Lady, and succession of classics from the American Songbook, all of them very beautifully sung, including the well-loved Mr Bojangles, a polished swing version of Stevie Wonder’s For Once In My Life, and a lovely How Do You Like Your Eggs In The Morning duet.
Special guest Val Boyers was impressive in many ways, certainly not least for her lovely voice, but you had to admire her sheer courage for getting on stage in the first place, never having sung to more than 100 or so people before in her life. Replacing Faye Tozer from the supergroup Steps, Val won auditions that sought to find an unknown talent from the region and offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to play the venue.
The energy levels wracked up a notch further during the second set, with Jason and the big band on fire, and the audience in full party mood. What fun, what an entertainer, what a reaction with 1,000 eager voices accompanying his Minnie the Moocher and The Wonder of You.
Two-and-a-half hours of top class entertainment culminated in a pitch perfect My Way. Isaacs has taken the best loved songs of all time, and, as the guys from the TV judging panels would say, he’s made them his own. No easy task: next stop, the Albert Hall, so rumour has it. Tyneside will be behind him every step of the way.
Link to Evening Chronicle feature.
Rosie Waller

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