Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 2026)

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

19,000 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 864 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 14) 43.

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

From This Moment On

October.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 4:45pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: NW FRQNC @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. Selina Albright, Gianni Vancini.
Wed 14: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 15: Leah Kirk: A Strange Affair @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Leah Kirk (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 15: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. PJO w. guest Graham Hardy (trumpet).

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Ancient Infinity Orchestra @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 16: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01. adv.; £15.00. on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Tue 20: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Head, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Tickets from Tully’s, Rothbury. Coquetdale Jazz. Note change of venue.
Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Scotty Adair.

Saturday, July 27, 2013

Lindsay Hannon Plus @ Sage Gateshead. July 26.

Lindsay Hannon (vcl); James Harrison (pno); John Pope (bs); David Francis (dms).
(Review by Lance)
It was all happening at Sage Gateshead tonight. A flower show had taken over the main concourse area relegating Lindsay and co to the café area. Paradoxically, to my ears, the acoustics were better in this less cavernous space. Elsewhere, the remnants of a wedding reception floated about but in our improvised performance area another wedding took place - that of Words and Music.
Tom Waits' New Coat of Paint with it's boozy, painting the town lyric came over aces even though most of the band were drinking water (a million jazzmen are turning over in their graves!) Secret Love, Skylark - a beautiful, tender, rendition - Yip Harburg's Down With Love, The amazing lyric to Anais Mitchell's Old Fashioned Hat. . Anyone who wonders why Lindsay is the acknowledged  jazz vocal coach in the area need only listen to her phrasing and breath control on this most poetic of numbers. The Doors' I'm a Spy led into my favourite - Why Try To Change Me Now? A great tune and a great arrangement with it's change of tempo on the release. The set closed with Nature Boy.
Time to reflect on what had been and what was to come.
Lindsay is on fire tonight - no disputing. James and John simply brilliant - David making his debut with the band provided more plus points. On the minus side, the real ale left something to be desired.
Composed by Harold Arlen and recorded by Tony Bennett, So Long Big Time opened up the second innings followed by Joni Mitchell's Blue Motel Room. Lullaby of Birdland had some amusing exchanges between piano and voice before bass and drums left the "stage" for the piano/vocal duo take on What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life? Possibly the greatest musical chat-up line ever!
And so it went on - A bossa by Paul Simon and an unaccompanied intro to Blue Monk completed a magical evening that transcended the beer and the Quaylink bus driver who failed to stop!
Lance.
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1 comment :

Kath Jobes said...

Hi Lance, I have already mad this comment on facebook, but thought last night's performance was the best yet... so I feel it only right that I wax lyrical:

I have seen the Lindsay Hannon Plus on several occasions and it just keeps getting better! The diversity of songs show Lindsay's tremendous talent as a singer. She has a unique ability to develop empathy with the audience in her delivery which sets her apart from other singers in the area. The band were superb last night, having seen both the pianist and bass player before, I knew it would be good, the drummer seemed to fit in really well, and as this was his first gig with the others I would say that too could only get better... he was talented and together they made a fabulous sound. I am really glad I made the effort... an evening of superb music, not to be missed... and if you did... your loss!

Kath Jobes

Saturday, July 27, 2013 9:18:00 am

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