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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

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.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

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

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

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

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

The Music of Bill Evans: Paul Edis Trio at the Cherry Tree, November 12.


Paul Edis (piano), Mick Shoulder (bass) and Adam Sinclair (drums)
(Review by Jerry)
Musical ignorance is not actually bliss, but it does have one upside: I am always learning. On Friday it was Django and last night the life of Bill Evans and his music – which can be summarised thus: one bleak, t’ other beautiful!

Bleak? Drunk, abusive father, chronic lack of self-confidence, lifelong problems with drugs and money, accidental death of Scott le Faro and suicides of two of the closest people in his life – partner, Elaine and brother, Harry. “And was there a happy ending?” asked someone in the audience. “No – he died at 51,” came the reply!
But in a sense this sells them all short: we have heard much this year of the word “Legacy” – the legacy of Bill Evans is the joy his music still brings to so many people, years after these sad events. A happy ending, of sorts..
Beautiful? That there WAS joy in his life is evidenced by the fact that so many compositions are dedicated to people who meant much to him. The trio, last night, treated us to Waltz for Debbie (niece), Peri’s Scope (girlfiend),
B Minor Waltz for Elaine (long-term partner), Laurie (girlfriend till his death) and the ingeniously anagrammatic Re Person I Knew (his producer, Orris Keepnews)! Even tragedy inspired beautiful compositions such as the penultimate number at the Cherry Tree – We Will Meet Again.
The sizeable audience responded warmly to all of the above and even more enthusiastically to the most challenging pieces of the evening, Walking Up, 34 Skidoo and the closing number, Five. On TV later the virtuoso, Lang Lang, was praised for his constant exploration of new music as “musicians should not play too much inside their comfort-zone”. Evans clearly felt the need to push himself further both in composition and as a player and it was great to see these local musicians picking up the gauntlet and testing themselves with brilliant, driving, uplifting performances.
The rest of the set-list had something for all tastes- Bill’s Hit Tune, Very Early, Funkallero, My Romance, and Stella by Starlight. Solo piano treats too – I Loves Ya Porgy, the almost Christmassy Childrens’ Play Song, a refreshingly UNsentimental Londonderry Air and (my favourite on the night) the Chopin inspired Peace Piece – the perfect antidote to bleak and tortured!
And all this at another venue I love, where excellent food and friendly, accommodating service is the norm. Exceptionally last night I was not driving, so I even got to try a Black Sheep or two! Learning CAN be fun!
Jerry.

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