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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 14: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 12:30-1:30pm. £5.00. at the door. New second Friday in the month concert series.
Fri 14: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 14: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 14: Archipelago + Anna Tempest @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £8.00.
Fri 14: Paul Jones & Dave Kelly @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 14: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Fri 14: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

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.

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