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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

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

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Gateshead International Jazz Festival 2013 Preview

Friday 5 April. The Sage. Hall Two. 8:00 pm
Soweto Kinch: The Legend of Mike Smith + Zara MacFarlane
(Preview by Russell)
Alto saxophonist Soweto Kinch is the real deal. A virtuoso musician, Kinch is rooted in the urban culture of his generation, embracing hip hop as the valid art form it is. Jazz as an art form can be insular and somewhat conservative. The hip hop tag should not dissuade the jazz fan from hearing Kinch - he will be a revelation, ears will be opened and CDs will sell like hot cakes. Kinch on alto is as good as it gets. You like Eric Dolphy, you think Peter King is the business, you’ll love Soweto Kinch. Hearing him rapping is poetry (jazz poetry) in (supersonic) motion. It all makes sense, it ain’t nonsense. Politically charged (don’t switch-off), a running (sprinting) commentary of all that matters, hear Kinch free-styling and be amazed. His current pre-occupation is The Legend of Mike Smith an epic double CD charting the travails of our eponymous hero, the  aspiring MC Mike Smith. The jazz is sublime, the rap rhyme devine (believe me Kinch can do better than that!). His new trio is A* standard and can be heard on the opening night of the Gateshead International Jazz Festival in Hall Two; Shaney Forbes (drums) and double bassist Karl Rashid-Abel will confirm that the new generation of British jazz musicians is as good as their illustrious predecessors. A support set by Zara MacFarlane is something to look forward to. MacFarlane’s star is fast rising. Catch her now in the intimate confines of Hall Two as next time she could well be headlining in Hall One! There is much to recommend in this year’s festival, if there is a better concert than Soweto Kinch it will be, as they say, ‘something else’.   
Russell.       

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