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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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

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.
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.

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, September 28, 2012

Paul Edis Trio: The Music of Bill Evans @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. September 27.


Paul Edis (piano), Mick Shoulder (double bass) & Adam Sinclair (drums)
(Review by Russell).
The Exchange Café in Hexham’s Queen’s Hall Arts Centre attracts the Guardian reader,  the novel reading couple (each reading a different title – now that’s what I call a good night out), the coffee drinker and the beer drinker. The latter, initially disappointed at the absence of a hand-pull, took solace in a small selection of bottled beers (at Guardian reader prices) behind the bar. The house beers, supplied by the Tyne valley’s micro brewery up in the hills at Allendale, included APA (Allendale Pale Ale, 5.5%). It proved palatable. A good number of Arts Centre patrons settled down for an evening of jazz (next week they will get along to a folk gig, the week after a string quartet will tempt them to have a run out in their Tyne Valley Tank - aka 4x4).
Pianist Paul Edis has been researching the music of Bill Evans. This Queen’s Hall gig was the trio’s second opportunity to play Evans’ music following a highly successful first outing earlier this year at a Splinter session at the Bridge Hotel in Newcastle. Edis has taken to talking about Evans the man, his life and music, in so doing putting into historical context each tune. Some of the stellar names of modern jazz were musical associates of Evans; George Russell, Scott La Faro, Paul Motian, Jim Hall, Miles Davis, Philly Joe Jones. Some of them became his junkie friends… The Edis trio (Mick Shoulder – double bass, Adam Sinclair – drums) played one wonderful tune after another; Bill’s Hit Tune, Very Early, Funkallero (cookin’), Waltz for Debby, Person I Knew (excellent combination of brushes and bass drum accents from Sinclair). The audience listened reverentially, seemingly frightened to respond. Well…someone had to act as cheer leader – let’s have some applause! That’s better! 
Peace Piece had this listener thinking Satie until Edis corrected such thinking telling us it owed something to Chopin. Peri’s Scope, Turn Out the Stars (a lament for La Faro, killed in an automobile accident), all great tunes, all handled with the utmost sensitivity. Evans experienced much tragedy in his life – the deaths of loved ones and the curse of hard drugs (heroin and cocaine to name but two). Edis chronicled the highs and lows of his subject’s life – the good times of the Riverside years, the lows of addiction. The music lives on and Edis’ project is a joy to listen to. B Minor Waltz, 3/4 Skidoo, Laurie, We Will Meet Again, Five – all great tunes played by the superb Paul Edis Trio.
Russell                                        

1 comment :

Anonymous said...

As a member of the audience at this great gig and also a Guardian reader, I feel I must take issue with the reviewer's stereotyping of this fine group of people. Anyway, the person near me was definitely reading the Journal. True, at times the reverential listening could have been mistaken for somnambulance, but there was generous applause at the end. And if getting such a crowd in can make terrific gigs like this happen, then that's fine by me.
PS - Anyone know the answer to 14 across in today's cryptic crossword - Jazz musician who was also B-grade illusionist (8 letters)?

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