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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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

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. SOLD OUT!
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.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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, November 01, 2013

When Swing Was King: Customs House, South Shields, Fri Oct 31

Cécile Mclorin Salvant (vocals); Matthias Seuffert sax/clt); Duke Heitger (tpt); Jean-Francois Bonnel (sax/clt); Keith Nichols (pno/vcl); ‘Spats’ Langham (gtr); Henry Lemaire (bs); Richard Pite (dms)
(Review by Ann Alex)
This was a wow of an eve of the popular Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party gig which is being held this weekend across the river at the Village Inn near Shiremoor.  The theatre was near full to hear the band kick off swing numbers by the likes of Bunny Berigan (wonderful name) and Artie Shaw.  Broken Record featured singing by Nichols, with amusing repeated phrases as per the title, and the horns and trumpet wasting no time in getting into the 1920’s/30’s groove.  There followed much relaxed fun with Jelly Roll Blues and Mahogany Hall Stomp (Louis Armstrong) so naturally a skilled trumpet was featured for that one.  Other entertaining solos came from bass and guitar.
Enter Cécile, dressed in red with a black cloak over one shoulder, which neatly complemented the band who wore smart dark suits with just hints of red accessories such as ties.  And of course she wore her signature white-rimmed dark glasses, a striking figure, singing the only song she did in the first half - a taster of the delights to come.  This was a slow sad Billie Holiday number; Deep Song, feelingly done, and the performance reminded me of what was said in a previous review on BSH, that this singer has a huge range with strong soulful lower notes and tender sounds of sadness in her higher register.  The band then gave us Hop, Skip and, Jump with a lovely pause before the jump, showing the amusing fun displayed in music of this period, followed by The Man I Love, featuring clarinet, Someone’s Rocking My Dreamboat and Grabtown Grapple, with an excellent drum solo by Pite done on brushes with perfect timing and showmanship.
Cécile featured in most of the second half, beginning with I Can’t Believe That You’re In Love With Me and the wonderfully assertive Baby I Don’t Cry Over You, a very appealing set of lyrics about a woman who merely goes out with other men and drinks cocktails if her boyfriend doesn't turn up!  If Dreams Come True had the band trading 4’s, and they shone again on their instrumental Shanghai Shuffle, lots of effective solos and an entertaining clicky sound from the bass.  Cécile sang for the rest of the concert, a gentle On The Sentimental Side; I’ve Got My Love To keep Me Warm; I’m Havin’ Myself A Time; Then she really went to town on What A Little Moonlight Can Do, obviously glorying in all the ‘oooh’ sounds which she drew out as long as she dared.  This was the nearest she came to a scat-like sound, though not really scat.  I liked her honest interpretations of the songs, the song came first, but her interpretations were her own.  The concert ended with the encore, Billie Holiday’s own Fine And Mellow, a blues with mellow solos from the trumpet and horns.
A great prelude to the Whitley Bay event.
Ann Alex  

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