Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 2026)

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

18602 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 466 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 8) 17

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

From This Moment On

June

Wed 10: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 10: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 10: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 10: John Garner & John Pope @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 11: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: MNO of the GASbook.
Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:45pm. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne.
Thu 11: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.
Thu 11: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm.
Thu 11: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 11: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 11: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free

Fri 12: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Fri 12: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Tanton (trumpet, vocals); Law (piano).
Fri 12: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 12: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 12: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Cleveland Bay Hotel, Eaglescliffe. 9:00pm. Free.

Sat 13: Ladies of Midnight Blue + Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Northumberland Miners’ Picnic, Woodhorn Museum, Ashington NE63 9YF. Free. From 10:00am. Ladies of Midnight Blue (3:00-3:45pm); Northern Monkey Brass Band (4:00-4:45pm).
Sat 13: Sarah Spencer’s Transatlantic Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 13: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Saltburn Bandstand. 2:30-4:30pm. Free.
Sat 13: Courtney Pine @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £35.80. Pine (saxophones); Robert Mitchell (piano); Rio Kai (double bass); Romarna Campbell (drums). ‘A Modern-Day Jazz Story 1986 - 2026’.

Sun 14: Front Porch Band: Swing Tyne’s Swing Social @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12 noon (doors). Donations (£5.00. - £10.00. suggested). Swing dance event w. taster class (12:30pm).
Sun 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 14: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 14: Doctor Jazz @ The Old Church, Sacriston, Durham. 3:00-5:00pm . Free (donations welcome). New Orleans, blues & classic 20th century songs. Food & soft drinks available, BYOB.
Sun 14: Eddie Gripper Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums). Americana album tour.

Mon 15: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 15: Dan Johnson w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 16: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 16: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: TBC.

Sunday, April 06, 2014

GIJF Day Two - The Spring Quartet. Sage Gateshead April 5

Joe Lovano (saxes); Esperanza Spalding (bs/vcl); Leo Genovese (pno); Jack DeJohnette (dms).
(Review by Lance).
On paper this was it! The session to end all sessions - the Jazz Cup Final. Four superstars on the one stage what could possibly go wrong?
Lovano a great tenor player, DeJohnette a living legend, Genovese an outstanding pianist and Spalding possibly the worlds best known double bassist, the ingredients were all there and yet...
For me it didn't click. Solowise they all excelled from time to time - Genovese in particular had an outing that brought back memories of a gig he did with Michael Janisch at the Lit and Phil a couple of years back. Lovano is undoubtedly a tenor titan but Toussaint left a longer lasting impression with me. DeJohnnette also had a tremendous solo and Spalding proved worthy of her reputation as a class act both bass-wise and in her vocalese excursions so what went wrong?
The material didn't grab me. Sure there was variety a-plenty but somehow it didn't hold me the way it should have done. I'm in the minority here I know but one can only write from a personal point of view. Perhaps if I hadn't heard Jean Touissaint earlier, or the Spring Quartet had been playing in the more intimate confines of Hall Two or I'd backed Balthazar King each way it would have different.
With Touissaint I felt as though I was a part of what was happening, here It was as if I had my nose rubbed up against the windowpane.
Still I have to confess that several hundred others disagreed with me so what do I know?!
Lance.
at

5 comments :

Debra Milne said...

Agree with you Lance, as did a number of people who left the gig before the end....

Sunday, April 06, 2014 12:48:00 pm
Jude Murphy (on F/b) said...

I liked them.

Monday, April 07, 2014 12:33:00 am
Ken Drew (on Twitter) said...

Good review by Lance - it didn't do it for me either. Expectations were high - delivery erratic. How come ?

Monday, April 07, 2014 12:54:00 pm
Jamie said...

I agree about the Spring Quartet but have always found Neset a more original, exciting and expressive tenorist than Toussaint.

Tuesday, April 08, 2014 4:00:00 pm
Anonymous said...

We wanted to leave after the first two songs, but we were stuck in the middle of Row C and didn't want to inconvenience people. We actually endured an hour of it in the end - and endured is the right word. The people in the row were massively pissed off when we asked them to stand to let us out and we got some filthy, horrible looks. I don't doubt their individual musicianship but the compositions were poor, overpowering and you're right, it just didn't work.

Thursday, April 10, 2014 10:00:00 pm

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