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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

Friday, February 28, 2014

Followed by Thirteen @ Jazz Café. February 25

Henrik Jensen (double bass), Esben Tjalve (piano) & Pete Ibbetson (drums)
(Review by Russell)
After some thirteen years at the Cluny, Schmazz has relocated to a city centre venue. The monthly session was the brainchild of the late Keith Morris, the remit admirably simple – offer musicians (many of them in the ‘emerging’ category), a platform to perform original material. Down the years this has largely been the way of it. The occasional standard sneaked in (invariably reworked) and a handful of gigs took place away from the promoters’ Ouseburn base. The Jazz Café is the new home to Schmazz. Ideally situated near Central Station (rail and Metro) and with any number of bus services operating in the vicinity. Would the Schmazz regulars follow, give up on the old place and embrace the new (the recently re-opened and impressively refurbished ‘Caff’)? They did.
The old crowd and a few new faces filled the Pink Lane venue to hear Followed by Thirteen. The trio, led by Danish bassist Henrik Jensen, played material, much of it from their 2013 CD Qualia, in a conventional straight ahead format (the music of a piano trio led by an accomplished bassist). Esben Tjalve occupied the piano stool and British drummer Pete Ibbetson sat at the back in an under-the-stairs recess. A regular working unit, Followed by Thirteen (Jensen is dogged by bad luck – think black cat, unlucky number 13 etc) won over the audience in no time with Jensen’s swinging tunes. Dog of the Day (Jensen’s canine companion the inspiration) swung like a good old fashioned swinger. Tjalve’s piano playing referenced Monk, Ellington and to some ears, Stan Tracey. Indeed Tracey’s longtime bass player, Andy Cleyndert would surely recognise Jensen’s in the pocket, swinging pulse. Post Office franked the trio’s old school credentials and it was all original material! One or two ballads (The Mildenhall Museum a highlight) ensured a varied programme across two sets. Jensen enquired of the audience if they were familiar with the term ‘hep cat’? Little more than a murmur from the not so ‘hep’ crowd (they were after all a Schmazz crowd!). Undeterred, the trio played Hep Hep. Drummer Pete Ibbetson impressed with brushes or sticks, the musicians clearly enjoyed working together and the audience demanded (and won) an encore. So, in short, a great start to Schmazz at the Jazz Café.     
Russell.                     

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