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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 09, 2012

SING, SING, SING: SWING, SWING, SWING! The Customs House Big Band with Ruth Lambert. Blaydon Jazz Club – Thursday March 8

Some  aspects  of  the  evening  might  sound  unpromising:  we  went   to   a   jazz-club  taking  two  friends   who   were  “not  into  jazz”;   the car-park   was   full;  the  bar had bottles of Abbot but I was  driving;   the   band  played  lots  of  numbers  I  didn't  know  and  we  got  lost  on  the way back and ended up in Scotswood! Actually, it was a great night out…….
            Blaydon got its 2012 programme off to a cracking start last night as Ruth and the Customs House Big Band wowed a full-house with 22 numbers and an encore (or was it 21 numbers and two encores?)! “Have you seen the time?” asked Peter Morgan (it was 10.50) – “Yes!” we said, as one, “Encore!!”
            The extensive set-list allowed the band to show what they can do on full-throttle (Georgia played by a trio is evocative, played by a big-band it is mind-blowing!) while giving everyone a chance to solo to good effect. Too many to list them all but On Green Dolphin Street included “nice drumming” (Peter Morgan’s words), the saxophones on Whisper Not drew generous applause and (borrowing again) the trumpets hit some “stratospheric notes”.
            And then there was Ruth, whose “spell was cast” with embraceable, irreplaceable lyrics, (‘s)wonderful melodies and a voice that ranges from sweet (Somewhere Over the Rainbow) to rasping and raunchy (Mack the Knife) with all the gradations in between. Great music: great vocals. A heady mix. It may not have been a bar in far Bombay, but the air was pretty rarefied in Blaydon by the end!
            My (self-confessed jazznoramus) musical education continued with some instrument-spotting (I don’t often see bass trombone or soprano sax), some technique-watching (just how many ways ARE there to mute a trombone?) and an introduction to some names and tunes I had not previously heard. Foremost among these was the alliterative Gordon Goodwin and his wacky Hunting Wabbits – a tune and a performance which I will not quickly forget! It is (and the band were) BRILLIANT! I am still smiling nearly 24 hours later!
            So, I enjoyed it all, as did our company including the two “not into jazz”! The scales fell from their eyes after about two numbers: “Is this jazz? But I know this!” and they had to be restrained from joining in, karaoke-style, when Ruth stepped up and started singing! To cap it all, one of them claimed to have “pulled” at the end of the evening! Personally, I’d have been wary of unexpected approaches late at night with the words of Mack the Knife still echoing round. She just said “Champion”!
…….which I would echo in describing the night as a whole. Thanks, Roly, thanks Blaydon – “Champion!”
Photos by Jerry.
Jerry.

5 comments :

Lance said...

Great review Jerry - wish I'd been able to arise from my sick bed to get there!
Question: How many ways to mute a trombone?
Answer: Not enough!

jerry said...

Hmmmm! There speaks a sax-man!!

Russell said...

Great review Jerry. I wish I'd been there but I was at a gig in the Bridge Hotel - too many clashes I reckon.

Russell

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the review and nice words Jerry.
The band sure was on great form.
Roly

Kev Eland said...

Yes definitely only 2 volumes on a bass trombone....

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