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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

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.

Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington (National Trust), Cambo, Morpeth NE61 4AR. 12 noon & 2:00pm. Admission to site £19.00.
Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Archie Brown & Friends @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00-8:00pm. Free.

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

Sunday, April 07, 2013

GIJF Day 2: Bireli Lagréne Quartet/ Kevin Mackenzie & Dave Milligan. April 6 Hall 2.

Bireli Lagréne (gtr); Franck Wolf (ten/sop); Jean Marc Robin (dms); Jean-Yves Jung (Hammond).
----- 
Kevin Mackenzie (gtr); Dave Milligan (pno).
(Review by Lance.)
I proclaimed to all who would listen that this would be the concert of the Festival and, to date, I have yet to be proven wrong. It was simply fantastic with Lagréne the icing on a cake that included many fine guitarists such as James Birkett with Djangologie, Mark Williams, with ACV, Bradley Johnston (pictured) with Jambone and Kevin Mackenzie of whom more later.
I'm grateful to Bradley for retrieving the set list as, apart from the divine version of There is no Greater Love, I wasn't familiar with the other pieces.
Lagréne first saw the jazz light of day as an 8 year old prodigy playing the music of Django Reinhardt however, these days, he has moved into more modern hard bop areas. Whatever the genre, the 47 year old Frenchman executes it faultlessly. Superb. 
Apart from the leader, his 3 confrères were equally outstanding with drummer Robin driving them along powerfully, Wolf a tower of strength on tenor and soprano playing some amazing angular phrases and Jung on Hammond filling the ensemble out to almost big band proportions although I felt that, solo-wise, he could perhaps have given it a bit more "welly". His bass-lines were impeccable.
Come back soon - all four!
Kevin Mackenzie and Dave Milligan had earlier played a duo set in the cavernous expanse of the Concourse but, to be truthful, the sound and the subtlety became lost amidst the chatter, the clatter of knives and forks, the clinking of glasses (guilty) and the general hustle and bustle of people to-ing and fro-ing.
Tonight, however, within the more intimate confines of Hall Two, the duo were much more at home delighting an appreciative audience who occupied all 3 tiers.
Milligan, depping for Steve Hamilton, we knew from his work on Mike Maran's Chet Baker play A Funny Valentine and Mackenzie from a still remembered gig at The Cluny a few years back. I recall Roly Veitch raving over his playing at the time.
The pair worked well together creating lots of interplay between the two instruments each pursuing his own lines yet, at the same time, complementing the other.
One of Mackenzie's compositions, dedicated to his son, had the brilliantly alliterative title of Finlay Finally Finds his Feet! The perfect aperitif for the main course.
Lance.
PS: The photo of Bradley (left) and Bireli was poached by me from Facebook - hope you don't mind guys. 

1 comment :

Debra said...

Northern Spirits with Lighthouse Trio was fantastic in an underfilled Hall 1 - a real shame these 2 gigs clashed.

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