Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. 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

Monday, November 04, 2013

Jim Mullen Organ Trio @ Sage Gateshead. November 2

Jim Mullen (guitar), Pete Whittaker (organ) & Matt Skelton (drums)
(Review by Russell).
Jim Mullen arrived on a rain-swept Tyneside to lead an afternoon workshop (the self effacing Glaswegian dismissed the term ‘masterclass’) and prior to his evening concert performance, chat with Tom Kerstens, Artisitc Director of the North East Guitar Festival at Sage Gateshead. The sparsely populated Northern Rock Foundation Hall gave a warm welcome to one of Britain’s great jazz guitarists (a frequent poll winner down the years, yet deserving of greater recognition – a musician’s musician perhaps).
Mullen spoke about his early years – there was no one to tell him not to adopt the technique he did – and his work in rock bands (Marshall stacks behind him) before heading to London to make a go of it on the jazz scene.
He recalled fondly the late Dick Morrissey and his subsequent list of credits reads like a who’s who of the international scene – the Average White Band, Tam White, Mose Allison, Jimmy Witherspoon, Claire Martin. In the intimate space at Sage Gateshead gone were the banks of amplifiers. These days said Mullen, I’m happy to take my little amp on the bus. Having put his career to date in context, the trio began with a tune, renamed by the Alzheimer’s Society, said Mullen…I Don’t Remember You. This was Blue Note organ trio heaven. Mullen’s speed of light thumb movement (no plectrum) beggared belief as drummer Matt Skelton swung like there was no tomorrow.  Pete Whittaker reunited with Mullen as a late dep on the gig and it was as though he had been in the band for years. His Crumar Mojo and customised Leslie set-up did the job. Less cumbersome than the B3 but just as effective.
Mullen dipped into his mental note book of quotes and liberally peppered them throughout Bruno Martino’s Estate (You and the Night and the Music one of many). I Fall in Love Too Easily (highlighting Skelton’s superlative brush work) and Wes Montgomery’s transcription of The End of a Love Affair won Whittaker due applause. The interval had the geeks looking intently at the on stage hardware – Mullen’s Aura guitar with sound hole covers (presumably to lessen feedback) and one punter expressed disappointment at Whittaker’s non-B3 kit. No pleasing some people. Try lugging that up three flights of stairs to your next pub gig and the next!
Earth, Wind and Fire’s After the Love Has Gone – something of a surprise choice – opened the second set. Mullen said Let’s see if we can make some jazz of it. They did, of course. Mullen, something of a movie buff, suggested they play Invitation – Whittaker and Skelton needed no second invitation. Can these guys play anything? I guess they can!  Mullen’s glorious political incorrectness resurfaced with I Don’t Remember. At the age of sixty seven he said he was beginning to forget things. For the record it was, of course, a great take on Irving Berlin’s Remember. 
Ballads featured in the set list, notably When Sunny Gets Blue. Lovely bluesy guitar from Mullen. The evening concluded with a brain teaser as Mullen announced: Your starter for ten. The trio ripped through the theme to the television quiz show University Challenge with countless quotes – all recognisable, all so fleeting, impossible to recall. At the end Mullen laughed. How many did you get? He asked.              
Russell.

No comments :

Blog Archive