Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''We knew back in the day that Emmet [Cohen] had it.'' (DownBeat July, 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

18680 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 544 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 3) 8

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

July

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Strictly Smokin’ quintet + House of the Black Gardenia @ Sunset Festival, Transmission Dynamics, Cramlington. 5:00-9:30pm. Free. Tickets: Eventbrite. Multi-bill.
Sat 04: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm. Free.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 07: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Sax on the Tyne @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £8.00. Feat. Sax on the Tyne & St George’s Community Choir.
Wed 08: Abbie Finn Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 09: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 09: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 10: Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Olly Styles & Jacob Egglestone @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 10: Archipelago @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:00pm . New album fundraiser gig.
Fri 10: King Bees @ Rebel Yell, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Chicago blues.

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

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive