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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

Thursday, August 29, 2013

Tina May & Nikki Iles “Raising the Bar” @ Highgate Jazz & Blues Festival. August 25

Tina May (vcl); Nikki Iles (pno) + Brandon Allen (ten)
(Review by Flore - pictured with Tina left and Nikki right)
The musical pairing of Tina and Nikki was inspired by the angels but, here on Earth, the invitation came from Sheffield Jazz  who invited Tina to sing with the Nikki Iles Trio in October 1995.
The rest is history.
Lauderdale House’s  Long Gallery provided an intimate setting for what turned out to be a very enjoyable evening.
The first set offered a mélange of variety.
Make Someone Happy – seamless changes of tempo. Sun Shower (Kenny Barron) – call and response passages exquisitely defined. Change of Sky (Springer/Harburg) – title track from their first CD together only one word for it – exquisite!
The Touch of Your Lips - a sensitive handling that lead to Brandon Allen, who had been listening attentively,  dashing to join them waving his tenor sax with much enthusiasm before adding his own brand of spice to the brew of … Body and Soul – further  flavours from Tina with a sprinkling of scat.
Daahoud – harnessing the energy from the previous piece to lift us from our seats and ready to cool down.
Suitably cooled, the second set began with Tina’s original composition … Bop Till You Drop. Another seamless change of mood …‘Round Midnight.
A shake of the kaleidoscope and we were treated to a tribute to Norma Winstone ... Ladies in Mercedes. Speak Low (Kurt Weill) – signaled more mood changes. By this time I was trying to absorb a cornucopia of sounds and rhythms to hear Tina after an introduction to draw everything together for an  A capella version of  Come Sunday from Ellington’s Black Brown and Beige Suite which segued into the final Take the A Train. This sent the audience chattering and grinning happily down Highgate Hill to get the A Train at Archway tube station.
There were other items in the programme that I've omitted for the sake of conciseness but it was a great evening.
Flore.

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