Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 2026)

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

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

Sat 14: The Too Bad Jims @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. R&B.
Sat 14: NUJO @ Venue, Newcastle University Students’ Union. Time TBC. £15.00. supporter; £10.00. standard; £5.00. student. Seated event.

Sun 15: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 15: The Too Bad Jims @ The Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. £12.00. R&B.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Rebecca Poole @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Poole w. Dean Stockdale & Ken Marley. CANCELLED!

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

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

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Zoe Gilby Quartet @ The Bridge

Zoe Gilby (vcl); Mark Williams (gtr); Andy Champion (bs); Richard Brown (dms).
(Review by Lance)
"I said, 'This is one of my own tunes' and I actually saw a man in the audience put his head in his hands!" - Ben Castle. (Jazz UK November 2006.)
The above quote from "Bebop Spoken There" immediately ran through my mind as Zoe announced that 45% of the songs that she would sing tonight would be originals! 
I fought, and won, the battle to keep my hands as far away from my head as possible!
It wasn't exactly that difficult as I'd heard several of Zoe's originals prior to tonight and knew the quality they represented even though Rodger's and Harts' It Never Entered My Mind, with the unaccompanied verse, reigned supreme. Zoe can interpret a classic lyric that compares with the best.
I'd heard Z do The Midnight Bell, based on Patrick Hamilton's Twenty Thousand Streets Under The Sky trilogy, once or twice but tonight I thought she really cracked it. When our girl sang another original, Guilty Man - based on Ralph Gorse - the anti-hero of Hamilton's Gorse Trilogy - I bonded. This latter work, as we surely all remember, provided the basis for the award winning TV series The Charmer with Nigel Havers portraying the smooth tongued conman. Worth mentioning when introducing it I think.
This led me to ponder....
Jazz funding these days seems to be all about Projects - not gigs for the boys but Projects. So, why not, a Project based around the works of Patrick Hamilton? Zoe's got a couple under her belt already I'm sure the others could follow. For those unfamiliar with Hamilton's status Graham Greene (author of Brighton Rock) said that Hamilton wrote the best ever Brighton novel - West Pier. If you want to follow it up Zoe - I've got the books.
Back to the gig!
Zoe sang, to my ears, the best I've ever heard her. Perhaps the Festival frolics have added that extra dimension but tonight everything was spot on.
On guitar, Mark looked so suave that when he came into the bar I didn't recognise him - when he started playing I did!
Andy on bass - I no longer think of him in relation to other British bassists - Mingus, Brown and Chambers are the yardsticks I use - even Nils!.
Richard Brown. Perfect - he just chills out and does the business.
Great start to the season.
Lance.
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