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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

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: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ 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: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

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, September 22, 2012

Taco Bells & others @ Morden Tower. September 21

(Review by Russell).
Lo-fi (low-financed!) promoters A Better Noise do their thing – obscure, underground, gigs for those who can be bothered. Finland’s Taco Bells were top of the bill but more of them later.
Hapsburg Braganza: Phil Begg (guitar) opened the show with, to quote Rough Trade, ‘lower case electronics’ guitar. That describes perfectly Begg’s approach. An absence of pyrotechnics, introspective leftfield folk melodies, desperately (beautifully) slow, wringing out the last resonant note. Begg’s latest vinyl release (yes, LP format!) Recurring Dreams is available at gigs or via www.altvinyl.com   
John Pope (double bass) & James Joys (clarinet & electronics)
John Pope plays jazz (Alan Glen, Lindsay Hannon). John Pope enjoys the free jazz scene – as a listener or performer. For this set he worked with James Joys (clarinet and Apple Mac). The Mac fired-up (the Silicon Valley fruit shone brightly) leaving the listener in no doubt that there would be some knob-twiddling. There was a bit of spittle clarinet playing, there was a lot of Pope’s free jazz bass playing, there was some good stuff in there.      
Taco Bells: Sami Pekkola (tenor saxophone & washing machine hot/cold hose pipe), Tero Kemppainen (double bass), Jaakko Tolvi (drums) & Stuart Arnot (trumpet)
Three youthful looking lads from Finland, approachable with an excellent command of the English language and a youthful-ish looking Glaswegian trumpeter. The quartet waited patiently to take the stage and when the core trio (the Finns) hit, blew and plucked the first notes it was immediately apparent that this was to be a Peter Brötzmann inspired set. Sami Pekkola (sporting leftfield beard – de rigueur at a Morden Tower event) attempted to blow the roof off the West Walls venue. Bassist Tero Kemppainen (loaning Pope’s instrument) did all the things required of a bassist in a free jazz context (it took him a while to adjust to the sound levels in the small space) and drummer Jaakko Tolvi impressed throughout. How is it that drummers working on the free jazz scene – however young – have an encyclopaedic knowledge of the musical vocabulary? So, to Pekkola’s party piece; attach a coiled length of washing machine hose pipe to the mouth piece to transform the sound to something akin to the oboe. Why? I don’t know. Glaswegian trumpeter Stuart Arnot, resident in Finland, joined the trio mid-set to blow some very free, furious long-note stuff. Washing machine or not Taco Bells scorched through their set with the hot tap very much full on.
Photos from "Anonymous"
Russell 

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