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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

Saturday, June 09, 2012

John Hallam with the Paul Edis Trio @ Blaydon Jazz Club.June 7.

John Hallam (tenor & baritone saxophones, clarinet), Paul Edis (piano), Mick Shoulder (double bass) & Adam Sinclair (drums).
(Review by Russell).
The forecast storm clouds gathered overhead during the journey from Newcastle to Blaydon. They did little to dampen the enthusiasm for a much anticipated gig. A return visit by reeds virtuoso John Hallam working in the company of the Paul Edis Trio enticed a good number of folk to Blaydon & District Club and Institute.


Hallam, an assured player on clarinet, tenor and baritone saxophones, chose a well-balanced programme and opened on tenor with a leisurely Just Friends. Mick Shoulder (double bass) shone on Love Me or Leave Me and the trio – make that the quartet – hit the heights on Blues in the Closet. Hallam switched to clarinet for a couple of numbers before leaving the stage to Edis, Shoulder and drummer Adam Sinclair to deliver a sensitive reading of Stella by Starlight
Hallam picked-up the baritone to further demonstrate his command of the reeds with a brisk Dream a Little Dream Of Me and closed the first set with the Duke Ellington/Mercer Ellington/Don George Time’s A Wastin’. The consensus of opinion during the interval was that it had been an excellent first set with much praise for the local lads. Tyneside has an enviable history of first class rhythm sections working as the support to visiting guest musicians from Britain, America and further afield. The Paul Edis Trio – Edis piano, Mick Shoulder (double bass) and Adam Sinclair (drums) –  is right up there with the best of them. 
The music resumed with What is This Thing Called Love? and Hallam, on tenor, continued to offer generous solo opportunities to the trio. Edis responded with yet another brilliant solo and a round of fours spotlighted the exuberant Sinclair. The trio took in their collective stride a bossa intro on Out of Nowhere followed by - a highlight amongst highlights - Bernie’s Tune. Hallam, once more on baritone, was, surely, delighted by the high level playing of all on the stand. Benny Carter’s When Lights Are Low revealed Sinclair’s immaculate brush work and Edis’ sublime solo incorporated fleeting references to other GAS book gems; was that Surrey with the Fringe on Top? Hallam the clarinetist played it near-hot on Irving Berlin’s Puttin’ on the Ritz, drummer Sinclair somehow evoked Fred Astaire’s unsurpassed tap dancing routine and Shoulder anchored it. Review notes said, simply, PERFECT!. Say no more. 
The Edis Trio slowed the pulse rate with a measured Body and Soul before John Hallam (on tenor) called time with Apple Honey. Blaydon Jazz Club is the place to be if first rate mainstream jazz is your thing. John Hallam’s visit was made possible thanks to Gateshead Council supporting the event during Blaydon Races Festival week and of course the regular supporters turning-up in good numbers. Next month  - Thursday July 5 – get along to hear master guitarist James Birkett and reeds virtuoso Graeme Wilson working in quintet format. It starts a little earlier than usual – get there by 8:15 pm. Make the effort – ample parking space in the car park on Garden Street, late buses to Gateshead and Newcastle, excellent bottled beers and a warm welcome at Blaydon Jazz Club ensure you won’t be disappointed.
Russell 

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