October
Fri 04: Satoko Fujii @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Amirtha Kidambi w. Manon McCoy @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 6:20pm. £8.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. Gem Arts, JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Ziv Taubenfeld/Olie Brice/Kresten Osgood + Andy Champion + Izumi Kimura & Gerry
Hemingway @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Fri 04: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: As I Sing & Breathe @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 7:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. ‘Songs & Improvisations’ - Nicols, Dalling & guests.
Fri 04: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 04: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 05: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: Musical Boxing Training @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 2:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. ‘A workshop for musical improvisers’. An event in a boxing ring!
Sat 05: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Wylam Village Institute, Church Road, Wylam NE41 8AP. Doors 7:00pm. Tickets £15.00. + £1.50. bf, available from: www.gigantic.com.
Sat 05: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. From 7:00pm. £12.00. Bright Street Big Band on stage at 7:30pm, preceded at 7:00pm by a swing dance taster session.
Sat 05: J.A.M. String Collective + Tara Cunningham + The Flame @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:20pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & Lit & Phil.
Sat 05: Heavy Drunk @ Anarchy Brewery, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. + £1.50. bf. ‘Mississippi Delta Blues Experience’ feat. Heavy Drunk, Watermelon Slim & Leonardo Giuliani.
Sat 05: Maggie Nicols & Tim Dalling: Musical Boxing Night @ The Tute, Ridley Terrace, Cambois NE24 1QS. 7:30pm. Free. Tickets: www.eventbrite.com. Nicols, Dalling ao. An event in a boxing ring!
Sat 05: Milne-Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 05: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Swarland Village Hall NE65 9JG. 8:00pm. £12.00.
Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm (12:30pm doors). £7.50.
Sun 06: Luis Verde Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 06: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 06: Catriona Bourne Quartet + Heather Ferrier + Emma Johson’s Gravy Boat @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. £10.00. + bf. NFOJIM in assoc. w. JNE & The Globe.
Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30-8:30pm. Free.
Tue 08: ???
Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. A ‘second Wednesday in the month’ jam session.
Wed 09: Shunya, Dudù Kouate & Seb Rochford @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). £21.00.
Thu 10: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 10: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. ‘Collaborations - it happened all the time’.
Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices w. the Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 10: Side Cafe Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 10: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesborough. 8:30pm. With guests Donna Hewitt (sax); Bill Watson (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). Free.
10 comments :
What an outstanding voice - Sandi Russell's performance was stunning!
Having heard of Ms. Russell's upcoming performance at the Lit and Phil I was very keen to attend and I was not disappointed. Whilst piano and bass provided sensitive accompaniment it was the richly controlled voice and the enlivening presence of Ms. Russell which dominated the evening.
I can't wait to hear her again - soon! It would be fantastic to hear her with a broader more flexible sound in support - then we might really get to hear her cut loose and display the full range of her prodigious vocal talents!
I agree with Sue's comments and am more than a little surprised (and disappointed)that the Lance Liddle review focused more on the efforts of the ACCOMPANIST, Paul Edis, rather than on the MAIN ATTRACTION, which was Sandi Russell. I have had the good fortunate to attend many of Sandi's concerts over the years. During that time, she has been accompanied by various artists BUT it is and always has been Sandi's voice that stands out, over and above whomever tinkles away in the background.
Actually the review was by Russell, one of our regular reviewers, not myself. However, although I wasn't there it sounded a fair review and to dismiss Paul Edis - one of our finest pianists and accompanists - as someone tinkling in the background does an injustice both to the pianist and to Sandi for whom he is currently her first call accompanist.
SANDI RUSSELL’s performance at the Lit & Phil on 12 October was astounding! No-one would have guessed it from the completely unbalanced review that appeared on this blog site the next day. It seems that, throughout a dramatic two-hour display of virtuoso vocal range and inventiveness, your reviewer only had ears for the piano accompanist and his bassist.
Perhaps the writer is ignorant of the great tradition of jazz divas which Sandi Russell represents? No less a musician than Humphrey Lyttelton placed her with Billie Holiday; she reminds Time Out of Carmen MacRae, and has been compared by Lance Liddell on this very blog site with Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan.
Or maybe this reviewer is unfamiliar with the repertoire of jazz vocals so generously presented by Ms Russell on that exciting evening? Mention is made of her anecdote about Thelonius Monk, but not her superb rendering of ‘Ruby, My Dear’, or her brilliantly funky ‘In Walked Bud’, in which Sandi Russell’s pyrotechnic scatting makes up for the horns and other instruments not present.
Strange that, on a blog site called ‘Be Bop Spoken Here’, the reviewer had nothing to say about Sandi Russell’s wonderfully entertaining version of the Betty Carter song ‘Please Do Something’. Nothing either about the beautifully melodic standards she has made her own, such as ‘Forget Me’ and ‘The Nearness of You’, confirming John Fordham’s comment in the Guardian that ‘expat American Russell breathes new life into the most familiar materials’.
The capacity audience in the warm ambience of Newcastle’s historic venue certainly recognised that they were in the enchanting presence of a ‘unique vocalist’ (Jazz Improv, New York), offering ‘top notch jazz’ (The Musician, London). Their enthusiasm and prolonged applause – not least for Ms Russell’s stunning rendition of Abby Lincoln’s ‘Throw it Away’ – made up for the shortcomings of your reviewer.
If you missed this outstanding event and want to judge for yourself, go to SANDI RUSSELL’s website (www.sandirussell.co.uk) and come to her next Newcastle performance on Wednesday 21 November at the Mansion House, Fenwood Road, Jesmond, NE2 1TS (www.newcastlemansionhouse.co.uk).
Sir/Madam, live reviews can never be objective. Jazz in particular always has been and always will be a subjective area. That our reviewer chose to record his appreciation of the accompanists - as I'm sure Sandi herself did during the concert - in no way implies he didn't appreciate her efforts.
Both our reviewer and yourself refer to Sandi's up and coming gig at the Mansion House on November 21. Perhaps you would care to submit a review on that one?
Dear Lance,
Good to hear from you, but why doesn't Bill Russell speak for himself (and use his full name to avoid confusion)? He can of course say what he likes, but that won't make his reviews either fair, balanced, informed or even appropriate.
Bill's decision to ERASE the singer (i.e. the principal musician)from his account of this exceptional performance was outrageous, as other comments testify.
Think, for a moment, what such erasure means to an African American immersed in the culture and history of jazz, who is also an outstanding interpreter of it!
We like Paul Edis too, but he can be heard regularly in the North. Sandi Russell more often performs in London or New York with international musicians, so it's a rare delight to hear her in Newcastle.
It's kind of you to suggest that I review Sandi's upcoming performance on 21 November, but it would be much more appropriate for you to do so yourself!
Russell is our reviewer's first name and to the best of my knowledge has never been known as Bill. Come to that, why are you "anonymous" you sound as if you know me?
As regards reviewing, our reviewers have carte blanche to express their opinion as indeed do those who comment.
The injustice, sir, was to Sandi Russell with that 'non-review'. Obviously, after seeing the other comments below, I can assume that I am not the only one who felt that way. Oh and by the way, I, for one, only used anon because your blog rejected my name & email address. Sincerely, Antoinette Freeman
Having not been able to get to the Sandi Russell I was pleased to to read the brief review on BSH which seemed to give a positive sense of a very good gig and of the singer and the musicians. I look forward to seeing her next gig at the Mansion House. In the meantime, I have to say that the comments are providing some interesting, if slightly surreal, entertainment. Populated by as diverse a selection of characters to be found this side of Desolation Row, with an assortment of Russells, including Sandi, Russell and the mysterious 'Bill', Lance Liddle and his alter ego, Lance Liddell and the Machiavellian reviewer with his tendency towards post-structuralist Derridean reviews written 'under erasure'. Then there is the alternative Long John
Silver inspired jazz website 'Be Bop Spoken Here? Arrh, to be sure, Matey'. It's going to be a fascinating crowd at the Mansion House gig....
JC (nee Russell)
J.C - you are in the frame to review that gig!
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