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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

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

Monday, December 02, 2013

CD Launch: Zoe Gilby Quartet - Twelve Stories @ Bridge Hotel, Newcastle

Zoe Gilby (vcl); Mark Williams (gtr); Andy Champion (bs); Richard Brown (dms).
(Review by Lance/Photo by Ken Drew).
The room was near full, the tables replaced with rows of chairs, the glasses charged - the scene was set.
Let the stories unfold...
The album begins with The Windmills of Your Mind that segues into The Waters of March and so too did the launch begin. The resonance of the double bass intro reached every corner and told us that the 60+ bums on seats weren't affecting the room's acoustical properties. Zoe, the voice as clear as a Midnight Bell, confirmed this and when guitar and drums entered the fray we all relaxed and let the words and music take over.
In it Together, one of six Zoe originals written in collaboration with Andy or, in this case, with Andy and Mark, came up next followed by On The Edge from one of her two previous albums.
Midnight Bell, inspired by the story of the same name from Patrick Hamilton's trilogy Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky, never fails to impress and nor does Kate Bush's slightly risqué In the Warm Room done as a duo with only Mark in support - magic!
Caravan let Richard Brown loose on the kit and this normally self-effacing skinner emerged from his shell to display a rare technique.
This seemed a good moment to nip down to the bar so I may have missed the final number of the set.
The room was buzzing during the break - a good sign that folk were enjoying themselves.
Money, another duo track - this time with Andy - saw Zoe scatting in her own inimitable style and Mr Gilby laying his bass credentials on the line.
Eleanor, another track from one of the previous albums, is well known to the fans and Guilty Man, from another Hamilton trilogy is based on Ralph Gorse, the ne'er do well played by Nigel Havers in the tv production of The Charmer some years ago (I'm a mine of information on Patrick Hamilton!) is another well crafted original.
A dip into the Rogers and Hart songbook for It Never Entered my Mind (complete with verse) warned against complacency in a love affair, Is It Me? moved a long a pace or two before Red Headed Girl From the North East of Nowhere paid tribute to Zoe's mum Hilary (sitting beaming with pride in the front row).
More back catalogue with Your Words then, finally, Red City.
The number 27 bus was nearing the stop so I had to leave before the flowers were presented but I'm sure there wasn't a dry glass in the house!
Ken Drew photos.
Lance.
PS: On the CD you also get some class trumpet playing from Noel Dennis.

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