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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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, August 04, 2012

Blues on the River - West Jesmond Rhythm Kings Riverboat Shuffle

Brian Chester (tmb); Roly Veitch (bjo); Phil Rutherford (sousa); Mike Durham (tpt/vcl); Derek Fleck (clt).
(Review by Lance)
Bourbon Street Parade got us cruising down the river and what a lovely cruise it was - despite the lack of real ale! 
We were passing St. Peter's Basin Marina - that yuppie haven. The yachts may not have been exactly Monte Carlo but they had the edge on Hebburn Marina, a few miles down river and when the band blew When My Dreamboat Comes Home, it, somehow, seemed appropriate.
One of our contributors was drinking Swedish Cider - perhaps an act of homage to the Anglo-Swedish Boiler Repair Company whose logo dominated a stretch of the river. Mike Durham was singing Everybody Loves My Baby as we approached that part of the River Tyne that was once wall to wall shipyards - where did they all go to? In the Olympics, China was leading the medal table.
Tishomingo Blues took us downstream where verdant pastures contrasted with bland, faceless industrial units. What went on behind these walls? Were we creating weapons of mass destruction? a Germ Warfare program or maybe just a council funded Cannabis Farm.
We kicked off with Bourbon Street Parade and, lo and behold, a moored container ship - The Bourbon Front!
Mike sang Too Busy - my favourite version of this is by Kay Starr and I hope Mike will forgive me for saying, it still is! 
The scenery continued to unfold - our rugged industrial heritage, Willington Quay Boat Club, more green pastures and Call Centres.
The sad sight of North Shields Fish Quay...
The band took a break, the boat turned around. 
After experimenting with John Smith's, Budweisser and Stella, I returned to JS and WJRK played Jazz Me Blues.
The return journey took in the other side of the river - When You and I Were Young Maggie - brought memories of when I was young(er) and the landmarks that are now long gone.
Tiger Rag - this is what I love about jazz - almost a hundred years on - bands are still playing Tiger Rag. I wonder if any of today's original compositions will be played a Hundred Years From Today. I doubt it but, I'll betcha, and this is a bet neither of us can lose or win because we won't be here to collect, but, a hundred years from today, somebody will be playing A Hundred Years From Today  so, don't save your kisses just spread them around...
A fireworks display greeted our return to Newcastle and for some time we were encapsulated by that strange magnetism that fireworks can have for us. 
The Bridges Festival and The Sage had done us proud
Lance.

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