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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

1803759 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 480 of them this year alone and, so far, 58 this month (June 18).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sat 21: Jason Holcomb Jazz Ensemble @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 5:30-7:30pm. Free. A 'Sunderland Year of Music' event.
Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

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, October 15, 2012

Sons of Kemet @ The Bridge Hotel. October 14

Shabaka Hutchings (tenor saxophone & clarinet), Oren Marshall (tuba), Seb Rochford (drums) & Tom Skinner (drums)
(Review by Russell.)
Splinter, the Bridge Hotel’s resident jazz promoter, joined forces with Jazz North East to present Sons of Kemet. The Four Sons pre-gig preparation showed commendable discipline. Band leader Shabaka Hutchings warmed up as reeds players do – in a corner, then on the wander checking out the acoustics (he chose to play acoustically). Tuba player Oren Marshall limbered up with some nineteen sixties’ football style exercises (the ghost of Joe Harvey swept through the room – ‘Pick those knees up, son!’). Drummer Seb Rochford (a high profile example of Newcastle College’s successful jazz degree course) slept on the floor and percussion partner Tom Skinner went down to the bar. 
Come gig time the place was packed.
Oren Marshall’s plumbing gear suggested that we could be in for some street funk. As the band took to the stage it wasn’t lost on this reviewer that Grandmaster Hardy’s New Orleans’ funk outfit - the Northern Monkey - would be about to hit the stage up the road at Hoochie Coochie. Unable to be in two places at once it was time to stay put with a pint of Lord Marples at hand.
The opening number hinted at Caravan before Hutchings broke ranks and blazed a trail from North Africa to the Middle East by way of New Orleans. The coolest of slow grooves - Rochford and Skinner proved conclusively that two drummers can keep out of the way of one another - changed gear with Hutchings’ injection of four star tenor and Marshall’s second line tail-gating teamster blasts. Wow! That was some opening number! A Hutchings’ improvised clarinet folk melody took it down but not for long as the percussionists forced the issue with layer upon layer of 12 inch rhythms. The windows steamed up, trains on the mainline a water colour blur through the night. Stoker Marshall relished his job throwing hot coals at the feet of the seated audience. The assembled grooved (as best one could sitting down with Lord Marples demanding attention) as the Four Sons pumped up the volume.
The tunes were Hutchings’ - Song for Galliano, Burn (the band certainly did!) and Going Home to name but three - though he willingly let the band take ownership of them. The finale risked putting in a call to the fire and rescue service. The Sons of Kemet could have been up on a charge of arson. Spontaneous combustion was a distinct possibility. Fortunately everyone got out alive. What a gig! Ask the survivors – they will tell you how it was. Splinter’s gig next week (Sunday 21 October) features the music of Graeme Wilson. For ‘Graeme Wilson’ read ‘guaranteed treat’. Jazz North East’s next concert - Moss Project: Short Stories- is at the Lit & Phil (Monday 29 October) in a joint promotion with the library.
Russell                                    

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