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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00. CANCELLED!

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.
Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

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, April 07, 2014

GIJF Day Three. In the Spirit of Duke - Jacqui Dankworth, and Charlie Wood, SNJO. April 6

Jacqui Dankworth (vcl); Charlie Wood (vcl/pno).
SNJO: Tommy Smith, Martin Kershaw, Ru Pattison, Conrad Wisznewski, Allon Beauvoisin (reeds); Tom Walsh, Tom MacNiven, Lorne Cowieson, Cameron Jay (tpts); Phil O'Malley, Chris Grieve, Michael Owers (tmbs); Brian Kellock (pno); Calum Gourley; Alyn Cosker (dms).
Alyn Shipton had a pre-concert on-stage talk with Tommy Smith which provided an informative introduction as to what was to come. Shipton is an expert interviewer and Smith a fluent subject. It was excellent.
In The Spirit of Duke had been performed at Durham's Gala Theatre last year and it was very good then. Would it stand up to a second hearing? Would the band be as good without Ryan Quigley?
The answer to both questions was an emphatic yes.
To start at the end - Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue. The number that set the 1956 Newport Jazz Festival alight and revitalised Ellington's career. Originally Paul Gonsalves blew 27 choruses but tonight surely Tommy Smith played many more! He swung like no tenorman I've ever heard swing. Bar after bar, phrase after phrase, chorus after chorus, the momentum was there he was in overdrive, man and instrument as one. The cows had long come home but Smith was over the hills and faraway. The applause was tumultuous this had been special and it wasn't over yet. Tom Walsh came down front for the Cat Anderson screamers at the end and I swear the roof of Sage Gateshead ended up somewhere over the rainbow! Ryan who...?
Earlier we'd heard a well-tempered mix of Ellingtonia. The blend of the saxes on Le Sucrier Velours - sweet without being sugary, Ru Pattison's alto - how can one so young get the sound and feel of Johnny Hodges? - Brian Kellock on piano, Alyn Cosker's drumming, everybody, the plaudits number beyond infinity.
The concert had opened with a duo set from Jacqui Dankworth and husband Charlie Wood. Jacqui I knew was in good voice from the afternoon performance but Charlie Wood was a new name to me.
The duo gelled and the songwriting side of Duke has rarely been bettered. Particularly interesting was the merging of Solitude and Take the A Train. Wood's vocal bass lines to In a Mellow Tone were also effective.
Next year's Festival is pencilled in for April 10/11/12.
Can't wait! However, before then, down the road at Darlington Forum, we have the Darlington Jazz Festival on April 26/27
Lance.

2 comments :

Hugh said...

"Facile" subject - did you mean that?

Lance said...

Fluent is better! Thank you for pointing that out - by that stage I was was quite facile myself!

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