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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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

Friday, August 02, 2013

Mick Shoulder Quintet @ Lit and Phil August 1.

Mick Shoulder (bs); Graham Hardy (tpt); Graeme Wilson (ten); Paul Edis (pno); Rob Walker (dms).
(Review by Lance.)
Close your eyes and Hey! you're in Birdland, NYC, listening to the Jazz Messengers, or is it London's Flamingo Club and the Jazz Couriers? Nah! we're in Newcastle listening to the Emcee 5 in the Down Beat! Well we are in Newcastle but it's 50 years on from those halcyon days and smoky dives. We're in the Literary and Philosophical  Society listening to Mick Shoulder's Quintet. Around us the portraits of past Lit and Phil dignitaries look down upon us like the Lords of Ruddigore in Sullivan's opera of the same name. However, unlike the aforementioned Lords, these portraits do not come to life.
The band, however, do very much come to life!.
Mick Shoulder, to his credit, apart from being a sensitive and meaningful bass player, has played a major role in drawing attention to areas of jazz that may otherwise have been overlooked by today's seekers of new horizons. Djangologie has kept the Hot Club flame burning and this quintet reminds us that the 1950s' Blue Note era is now the centrifugal force of jazz - the new mainstream - drawing on what went before and providing the inspiration for what was to come.That Old Feeling benefitted from an Edis piano intro that led into a superb arrangement with Hank Mobley - sorry Graeme Wilson - setting the standard for what was to follow. Whisper Not and Graham Hardy's flugel is outstanding. It may have been written by Benny Golson but the feeling evoked is Ian Carr and Emcee 5.
Too Close For Comfort (Couriers) swing like crazy. a luscious feature for Wilson - Some Other Time - reminds us of the beauty that abounds in a balladic interpretation and, closing the set, we're Swingin' the Samba a la Horace Silver with Rob Walker giving it that.
A bottle of Lord Collingwood - Wylam Breweries tribute to Nelson's sidekick goes down well at the reasonable price of £2.50.
The second set continues in the same vein - this is going to be high on the Gig of the Year list. Come Rain or Come Shine (Messengers) has great solos all round and none better than Edis' block chords passage that makes me think he's got more than the average number of fingers.
Graham Hardy on flugel and Solitude tugs at the emotions, Thursday's Thing, a minor keyed opus that once more brings Emcee 5 to mind, before the grand finale, Cheek to Cheek, arguably the Couriers finest arrangement and beautifully re-created here.
Everyone in the world should have been here tonight - one or two weren't.
Thank you Mick and the guys but please, don't make us wait another 12 months till the next one!
Photos.
Lance.
PS: Apologies for initially billing this as a sextet - it was all those extra fingers of Paul Edis that confused the issue!

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