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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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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

Thursday, May 29, 2014

Charlotte Glasson Group @ The Jazz Café. May 28

Charlotte Glasson (tenor & soprano saxophones, flute, violin, melodica & saw), Paul Taylor (trombone), Chris Spedding (guitar), Mick Hutton (double bass) & Sam Glasson (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew.)
The Charlotte Glasson Group made the long drive from Brighton picking up a couple of London-based band mates on the way. Newcastle greeted them with teeming rain. Glasson had previously played a Schmazz at the Cluny gig and this Jazz Café date drew one or two who had been at that first Newcastle appearance. The majority in the Jazz Café’s upstairs space were hearing the multi-instrumentalist for the first time.
Glasson (Charlotte) plays all the reeds but on this occasion she left behind a fair few of them – she couldn’t fit them all in to her car! The range of instruments served Glasson well during an eclectic set ranging from classic era jazz tunes to blues to ska to rockabilly. The new CD – Festivus – featured during the evening, as did the back catalogue, a tune so new its working title is Tune With No Name and a couple of jazz standards. Gumbo Blues Walk opened the show with Glasson on tenor and Paul Taylor’s big trombone sound. A switch to soprano on Something New then flute on Travelling Band. Three instruments on the first three tunes (each played with equal facility), three other instruments to be heard later, the ebullient Glasson will never be short of a gig! An arrangement of Jimmy Guiffre’s The Train and the River won favour with the hard core jazz fans in the room (Glasson on tenor). Talking of the hard core…Black and Tan Fantasy played straight, respectfully. From the Ellington/Miley masterpiece to Chris Spedding’s Gunfight. The guitar hero’s career is well documented (he has played with everyone and has so many recording studio sessions to his name to list them all would read like a telephone directory) and on this one he played it rockabilly a la Duane Eddy.
Glasson played the melodica (clever girl Wor Charlotte) on Early Bird Tango, flute took her fancy on Early Days with kid brother Sam Glasson showing he’s no mug with a top flight drum solo. Bassist Mick Hutton contributed Lister (a tune about his father, who, on his death bed, offered to sell him his watch!). Trombonist Paul Taylor does poetry stand-up (as indicated earlier, it was an eclectic gig). He had the audience in stitches with a never- ending series of observational jottings. The one about the poorly cleaned beard in the Cluny…be sure to check-out www.trombonepoetry.com Taylor does ska (being multi talented is a prerequisite of band membership), so we got a skanking When You’re Feeling Low. Brothel creeper Spedding sang Louisana and the eponymous Festivus (a festival for those who choose not to observe Christmas or other similar occasions) enlisted an in-tune whistling audience to close a hugely entertaining night. Oh, yes. Glasson called into B&Q on the way to the gig and bought a saw. Not that she’s into DIY. She played it as an instrument. And she played violin! And to think she left behind her other instruments! Clever girl Wor Charlotte! For details of Glasson’s tour itinerary and her new CD visit www.charlotteglasson.com
Russell.

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