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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

Wed 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 15: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 15: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session. TBC.

Thu 16: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 17: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Joe Steels Trio w. Graham Hardy @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. (inc. a welcome drink & table reservation). Book at: www.drinks@thepele.co.uk. A ‘Jazz at the Pele’ promotion.
Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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.

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

Tue 21: ???

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

Monday, September 03, 2012

Sassafrazz @ The Cherry Tree.

Siobhan Stanley (vcl); Mark Deeks (pno); Peter Morris (bs); John Forster (dms).
(Review by Lance.)
Sassafrazz, I suspect is a new band although no doubt they are all seasoned professionals - perhaps as seasoned as my Warm Salad of Confit Duck and Chorizo Sausage with which I started the evening.
I missed the first number just as Siobhan "Missed the Saturday Dance"  which she struck up with as I arrived. Well, just as they "Crowded the floor" in the song so did the diners crowd the tables both upstairs and down. It was a very good turn out although it has to be said that this was in part due to pianist Mark Deeks who, in a parallel    universe, is involved with the Inspirational Choir at The Sage and several of his choristers had come along in support - I don't think they would have been disappointed.
This was the first time I'd heard Ms. Stanley who has a great voice that can seemingly turn from jazz to soul to blues and back again - barely dropping a beat in the process. Peggy Lee's He's A Tramp, You're So Vain, I Heard it on the Grapevine, Lilac Wine, Feelin' Good just some of the outstanding numbers in the first set.
My only criticism being the lady's need to hold the lead sheet as she sang - I don't imagine that the chef had Delia Smith sitting on his knee as he prepared my Grilled Barnsley Lamb Chop, Squash Gatin and Salas Verde. Still, if it's a new band I suppose it takes time to learn the words and she did sing them very well. Bass and drums were effective without being obtrusive,
The second set got under way with a round of happy birthdays and wedding anniversaries before the serious stuff which kicked off with, I quote, Eva Cassidy's It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing!
Deeks was featured on Summertime before he segued into Fever with some dramatic keyboard flourishes behind the vocal. Paloma Faith's Upside Down, You've Got a Friend, an agonisingly (yet quite beautiful) slow version of The House of the Rising Sun, Learning The Blues, more instrumental fireworks from the grand piano in the form of I Get a Kick Out of You whilst I was getting a kick out of Whisky and Apple Creme Brulee - Biscoti. Autumn Leaves brought us up to 33A bus time so it was with some reluctance that I left missing an original by Deeks entitled Bjork.
This was an enjoyable session and I look forward to catching Sassafrazz again - if only to learn the background to their name!
Next week - Djangologie.
Lance.

1 comment :

Mark Deeks said...

Thanks for the kind words. Whilst I'd love to take credit for writing the Bjork song, it is in fact a Bjork song! It's called Joga.

Really appreciate the comments though. If you are interested, we are supporting the new choir Echo at their Motown show at Gosforth Trinity Church on Friday December 7th at 7.30pm.

https://www.facebook.com/MarkDeeksMusic#!/events/497221353637561/

http://soundcloud.com/sassafrazz

Thanks again, Mark

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