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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, March 12, 2013

Robert Cray Band + Jon Allen @ The Sage Gateshead. March 11, 2013

(Review by Russell)
The blues greats are all but long gone - Buddy Guy is still around, Taj Mahal, Dr.John, very few others (Magic Slim left us a little over two weeks ago). The next generation (no longer young guns) includes one Robert Cray. British blues aficionados were quick to pick up on Cray when he was little known, his earliest recordings on the Tomato label prized possessions (some collectors sought Japanese imports).
One of Cray’s first gigs on Tyneside attracted those-in-the-know to the Students’ Union of Newcastle University. Decades later the man from Columbus, Georgia, USA walked out onto the stage of Hall One at the Sage Gateshead to a considerably larger following! Cray said it was a pleasure to be back at the Sage Gateshead, turned to his band mates and said: Let’s get to it! 
Cray’s band - the long serving Jim Pugh (keyboards) and bassist Richard Cousins with Les Falconer on drums - tours the world more or less non-stop, resulting in the tightest of professional performances. Ninety minutes of classic Cray material - from his latest CD Nothin But Love to a spoilt-for-choice back catalogue - flew by. The sound was superb, testament to Lord Foster’s building design, the talents of the in-house technicians at the Sage and Cray’s road crew. Cray’s incomparable soul-blues voice, undiminished after years of life on the road, at one with his signature Fender Strat guitar sound, is a rare combination.
Strong Persuader and Smoking Gun were but two of many highlights. Organist Jim Pugh drove Cray to ever greater heights, Richard Cousins’ sinuous bass lines floated then danced, then floated and danced some more and Les Falconer’s in-the-pocket drumming was a master class. Cray’s vocals - arguably non better since Sam Cooke - left one thinking the next number couldn’t possibly be as good as the last, but it was, time and again. The wrought emotion of Chicken in the Kitchen has to be one of the best things heard in the nine year history of the Sage.
Robert Cray’s guest on this tour is Jon Allen. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, Allen was a revelation. Unannounced, the man with the Ford Focus (he felt inclined to tell us) strode onto stage and sang with no little confidence. Possessing a strong voice with an edge to it (think Steve Marriott, the best of early Rod the Mod) he writes songs about situations (Dead Man’s Suit) and relationships (Happy Now). Great voice, great lyrics, perhaps best  illustrated by Happy Now The lyric, delivered despairingly, if not with distain, goes…’I hope you’re happy now?’ Great stuff. Allen likes vinyl. His material is available on LP or the lesser option - CD. Check out Jon Allen, he’s good.
A great night at the Sage drew to a close with Robert Cray about to walk off stage yet he had the presence of mind to thank his special guest Jon Allen. Robert Cray is a class act.
Russell.                                  


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