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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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 - Shiver

(Review by Russell).
Sunday afternoon, Hall Two, standing room only three floors up. Clearly some had heard of Polar Bear and some had heard of Shiver. Local heroes Shiver with guest vocalists are Geordie Heroes (drummer Joost Hendrickx awarded Honourary Geordie status). Home grown, the trio – Chris Sharkey (guitar), Andy Champion (electric bass) and Hendrickx – recently took their music on the road and this Gatehsead International Jazz Festival appearance held extra appeal with guest vocalists Zoe Gilby and John Turrell invited to join them on stage.
The trio kicked-off in fine style taking no prisoners with a searing Hammerhead Blues. Chris Sharkey spoke of the tune’s genesis: proud of his Geordie roots, acknowledging the region’s largely lost heavy industrial base – coal, steel, shipbuilding – hence Hammerhead. This was meat and drink to bassist Andy Champion, locking onto steam hammer riffs, the accumulated dust of long gone industries blown away in a sustained attack with Hendrickx. Sharkey, restless on fret board and stage, developed ideas at lightening speed, then a change of direction, then another, pedal board pressed into action. The lean left hander (powder blue Strat) moved this way then that returning to the pedal board to signal ‘diversion ahead’.
Champion had his share of the electronic hardware (Hendrickx’s kit similarly wired) and put the boot in with some staggering bass playing. The Mayfair Ballroom in Newcastle fell victim to ‘progress’, demolished some years ago to make way for an all under one roof ‘experience’ of chain restaurants, pubs and multiplex cinema. Sharkey lamented its loss – from the foxtrot dance band era to the days of pretty boy/ugly (delete as appropriate) heavy metal bands. So, we got Quickstep. It was quick alright, Shiver style! What next? Sharkey introduced the afternoon’s guest vocalists. The pre-gig assumption was we would hear two vocalists and indeed we did. Make that four vocalists (more of that later!). The principal guests – Zoe Gilby (her late dad Mike once a formidable member of the trumpet section at the Mayfair back in the old days) and John Turrell – strode out casual, confident. Any sane person would be terrified! How on earth would they be heard on this gig?
Heard they were, sections written to accommodate the voice, other sections full on power trio and vocals! Tyneside has a history of collaborative projects. Many moons ago before Sting became a global megastar he worked on a ‘rock opera’, for want of a better term. Here at Sage Gateshead Chris Sharkey premiered something of a ‘stadium power metal-scored operatic opus’. John Turrell’s soulful voice an inspired choice for this project, Zoe Gilby explored new territory with an astonishing, brave performance, the screaming rock goddess! An intense Gilby – Hendrickx vocal/drums feature heard Gilby utterly uninhibited, urged on by Hendrickx. Quite remarkable. So, it can be said Shiver came up with something different! The four vocalists? Turrell and Gilby and…Sharkey and Champion. Well, well, well! Backing vocals but nevertheless vocals. Whatever next?!
Russell.

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