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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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. THIS WEEK ONLY JAMES BIRKETT (guitar)!
Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

MARCH 2025

Sat 01: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £15.00. Day 2/3.
Sat 01: TJ Johnson Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Get your funk on! Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ The Watch House, Cullercoats. 2:00-3:30pm. Free.
Sat 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Blues band.
Sat 01: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Jack & Jay’s Vintage Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Tuesday, April 08, 2014

GIJF Day Three: Fragments Of Splinter With Wilson & Williams and Roby Glod Trio

Mark Williams (guitar); Graeme Wilson (tenor sax).
(Review by Ann Alex/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew.)
This concert was a collaboration between Jazz North East and the regular Splinter sessions which take place at Newcastle’s Bridge Hotel. Graeme Wilson explained that the set was meant to ‘use up’ tunes they’d both had ‘hanging around’, a laid back description of a fine set of playing.  If this is their spare tunes, the regular tunes must be remarkable!
A mellow bell-like guitar and weaving tenor sax began the set, followed by the sax leading a more angular tune, the instruments playing off each other by turns.  Wilson’s tunes were entitled Creeping Thyme and All The People which were followed by Williams’s  Almost and Why Not?.  Williams is master of his guitar, it growled and rumbled, then became jaggedly percussive and whined. It was as if the guitar and sax were having a row, yet the guitar can be mellow and tender when told to be so. Wilson’s Back To Square One was a strong sax tune, song words could be written to it.  The music continued with riffs and tunes set against riffs; call and response, the instruments sometimes chasing each other, until the final big sound of the last tune, yet ending with a simple fade out of sound.  Such effective stuff!
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The Roby Glod Trio: Roby Glod (alto/soprano saxes); Andy Champion (double bass);
 Mark Sanders (drums)
Roby Glod had been brought over from Luxembourg especially for this gig by Jazz North East, so this was the first time that the drummer and bassist had worked with him.  I was glad that I’d learned something of the ideas behind free form jazz at the Pink Lane Coop workshop on the Saturday so I knew more about what was going on.  The set was totally improvised, the musicians start from scratch, and engage in a musical conversation, team working with each other, but also sometimes taking the piece in another direction when the time seems right, and ending the piece when appropriate. This means also that the sound and lighting technicians become part of the set as they have to react to the music onstage. Once the audience knows the ethos, we can sit back and accept what happens. And watch carefully too, because this set proved to be highly visual, as the musicians played sometimes unconventionally.
It began with a breathy sax, sparse drums and good bass, then built to a fast climax with wild bashes on the drums, a swop from alto to soprano sax, going down to something slow and eerie, with devilish red stage lights and the drummer stroking the sides of the cymbals with the sticks, then scraping drums, and a tune played on the bass strings with a drumstick.  Then something akin to standard jazz, then quiet and a natural ending to the first piece.
The second piece had sparse soprano sax and bass chords, bell sounds from the drums, then alto sax, a much shorter piece. The lighting technicians had the last word, as they put the musicians into silhouette to end the set, which I found both effective and amusing.
It was good to be part of this, one of the many newer directions that jazz is taking.
Ann Alex     

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