Total Pageviews

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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00. CANCELLED!

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.
Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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.

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

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Jam Session @ Jazz Café. June 17.

Peter Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Paul Wight (dms) + Ian Forbes (dms); Paul Gowland (alt); Kath Jobes (vcl).
(Review by Lance.)
The World Cup has a lot to answer for - not least the effect on jazz clubs. Who, with all of their wits about them, can sit watching two foreign teams kicking a ball around when they could be at the Jazz Café Jam or any of the other jazz gigs around the world that are being steamrollered into submission by the "Beautiful game"?
Still, those of us who opted for the jazz weren't disappointed and indeed it was almost a musical World Cup as the PG3 spent Autumn in New York, A Foggy Day in London Town, Bounced with Bud into Dear Old Stockholm, Norwegian Wood kept us in Scandinavia plus A Night in Tunisia and a visit to Scarborough Fair was also contemplated. These latter two pieces didn't materialise on my watch (Metro Station upheavals etc. meant an early bath for me) but may have occurred later.
Needless to say the PG3 were on form playing easy, laid back swing including The Song is You with double bass to the fore as indeed it was on All Blues - was this Paul Grainger or Paul Chambers?
Sitters in were sitting in at home tonight with the notable exceptions of Ian Forbes - as ever full of fun and fast fours - Paul Gowland, firing a vintage 35M Conn under slung alto on All The Things You Are and I'll Remember April and Kath Jobes chanting Imagination and Autumn Leaves.
Next week it's a Schmazz gig featuring guitar duo Mike Walker and Stuart McCallum with a support set by Paul Taylor.
Lance.

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

The way to go about getting more people into jazz, especially live jazz, is to make it more inclusive.
I don't think the way to do so is to suggest that those choosing to watch the football don't have their wits about them. In Leeds, theres a couple of places were they had the football on during the last world cup but mute, and encouraged people to come in and play music based on what they were watching on the big screen.
If people just sit and complain about jazz (and not only jazz, by the way) being steam rollered into submission, the way to preserve it is to adapt, not to close ranks to the exclusion of all else.

Lance said...

Dear Anonymous of Leeds - I don't quite see that musicians playing to what they see on a muted screen of the world cup is going to appeal to either jazz people or football people. If I choose to watch a football match I don't want some guy blowing tenor sax in my ear. Likewise, I want the musicians I've come to hear to be inspired by Ellington, Cole Porter, Pat Metheny, Chick Corea or each other, not Wayne Rooney!
Mind you, this recent world cup would, if we'd been doing it "Leeds way", have produced some of the most heart rending blues we've ever heard - and over a samba beat!

Blog Archive