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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

1803759 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 480 of them this year alone and, so far, 58 this month (June 18).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

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.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

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, June 23, 2014

British Sea Power, BBC Big Band and Jo Hamilton get brassy in the North East

(More info.)
If you've ever watched the Mardi Gras marching bands in Tremé or Live And Let Die and idly wished something similar existed closer to home, then wish no more, because it was right here under your nose the whole time.
This summer Durham will bring a series of shows to venues across the historic city – Brass: Durham International Festival. Running between 12th and 20th July, Brass will play host to an unexpected mix of acts like British Sea Power performing with a brass band and Jo Hamilton performing with Lanterns on the Lake and a brass ensemble and  the BBC Big Band.
It may never have been considered especially cool (indeed, the day it is will probably be its death-knell), but the brass band is a deeply-rooted and profoundly British tradition - specifically a Northern, English working class one - as typified in the popular imagination by colliery ensembles such as the famous Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band, or fictional counterparts like the Grimley Colliery Band in the much-loved 1996 film Brassed Off. Brass: Durham International Festival, held in a city with a centuries-old history of mining and miners' galas, is a joyous celebration of that culture. But it's also much, much more.
Because if you're just picturing old-fashioned military bands parping through some old Sousa numbers, or the Sally Army playing Christmas carols, you're way wide of the mark. Now in its eighth year, Brass welcomes exciting artists from dozens of other nations, and goes out of its way to embrace experimentalism and unlikely collaboration.
Heading 2014's eclectic lip-puckering, horn-polishing line-up are indie rock legends British Sea Power, who will be giving the world premiere of their Sea Of Brass show at Gala Theatre, a purpose-built venue on the banks of the Wear, on Thursday 17th July. The Cumbrian-reared, Brighton-based band are something of a unique national treasure, and have become known for their unusual concert locations (from the Sealand fortresses to the Natural History Museum), their inspired collaborations (from The London Bulgarian Choir to The Wurzels) and their off-kilter projects (re-scoring the 1934 film Man Of Aran to recording a soundtrack for a documentary about Britain's coastlines), and Sea Of Brass follows in that singular lineage. With the NASUWT Riverside Band, and the help of arranger Peter Wraight (Matthew Herbert Big Band), BSP will perform favourite selections from their back catalogue reinvented for brass. This event has been co-commissioned by BRASS in partnership with the Quad in Derby, Barbican London, and De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill, with grateful support from the Arts Council England, PRS for Music Foundation and New Music Plus.UK.
If you've ever gazed at the spectacular Norman architecture of Durham Cathedral from the window of the East Coast Mainline and wondered what it's like inside, then Fractal Sparks is probably the most thrilling way you could possibly find out. The cathedral - part of a World Heritage Site (along with the nearby Castle) and a prime location in the 1998 film Elizabeth - will play host to an innovative new commission from Brass. This stunning live music and multimedia event, on Friday 18th July, will showcase ground-breaking visual effects accompanied by specially-arranged songs from Jo Hamilton with musicians from the Corps of Army Music. Set to live performances of Jo's forthcoming second album 'Fractals', the show will feature 'force of nature' full-height visual effects that explore the theme of perspective; that our lives continually repeat the same patterns in different contexts and on different scales. Hamilton, a product of the Birmingham Conservatoire (which has also given us Laura Mvula, Rhydian Roberts and Jim Moray in recent years), released her acclaimed debutGown in 2009, which earned comparisons to the likes of Bjork and Sigur Ros, and has become renowned as the first artist in the world to use an Airpiano (a non-contact instrument which has often been compared, albeit inaccurately, to a theremin). Also performing at Fractal Sparks will be Lanterns On The Lake, the Newcastle-based, Bella Union-signed indie band whose most recent album Until The Colours Run was hailed as "one of the best records of the young decade" by Drowned In Sound, and who will be performing with the Durham County Youth Big Band.
The BBC Big Band have played with 'em all, from Van Morrison to Tony Bennett to Ray Charles, and are best known for appearances on BBC Radio’s Big Band Special and Jazz Line Up. At the Gala Theatre on Friday 18th July, the internationally-acclaimed band and conductor Barry Forgie will celebrate the music of the great swing bands including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.
The rest of the festival programme features some familiar names, such as reigning National Champions Of Great Britain, the legendary Brighouse & Rastrick Brass Band, known affectionately as 'Briggus', who made it onto Top Of The Pops in 1977 with their No.2 hit "The Floral Dance" (which was only held off the top by Wings' "Mull Of Kintyre"), as well as The Stars From The Commitments, John Kefala-Kerr, Jon Faddis with The Andy Champion Quintet, two fascinating art/film installations Cycles Of Brass and Hjem (Hyem), and an interactive exhibit called Connections. There will also be a number of Streets Of Brass free events which will bring the atmospheric narrow terraces and alleys of this historic city bursting into jubilant life.
For further information, visit www.brassfestival.co.uk

1 comment :

Lance said...

Hope you didn't miss the preview of the highlight of the festival (in our eyes) that of the gig by American trumpet player Jon Faddis with the Andy Champion Quintet (July 15). This was squeezed in at the bottom when, in truth, it should have been headlines. Then on July 18 the BBC Big Band play at Gala Theatre. On the same day King Bee are down the road at Barnard Castle. July 18 is also the opening night for the Jazz Co-operative's jazz pub - the Globe in Newcastle with the Strictly Smokin' Big Band and the Americana Festival at Sage Gateshead also kicks off that night!

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