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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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

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: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
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.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Jamil Sheriff Trio @ Jazz Café. September 13

Jamil Sheriff (piano), Pete Turner (double bass) & Dave Walsh (drums)
(Review by Russell/photo by Mike Tilley)
The Jamil Sheriff Trio played a Saturday night gig at the Jazz Café and what a gig! One question arises – where was the audience? A handful took their seats to listen to a piano trio of exceptional quality. Sheriff, an academic staffer at Leeds College of Music, made a return visit to Newcastle having previously performed at the Lit & Phil, and as on that occasion, he had with him his regular partners Pete Turner (double bass) and drummer Dave Walsh.
Sheriff mixed standards with original compositions across two sets. Body and Soul, The Old Country, All the Things You Are and Billie’s Bounce were interspersed with Sheriff tunes including The Contortionist, Trio Piece No.1, the bluesy Bluish, The New One and a new one, as yet untitled, known as Untitled. The bandleader gets inside the tunes, head tilted to one side, muttering inaudibly, playing two-handed piano. Neo-classical left hand motif, right hand jazz improvisation – how does he do it, other than intense concentration and hours of practice? Fabulous piano playing and two utterly reliable musical partners – a winning combination every time.
Bassist Turner, unfamiliar with The Old Country, did an amazing job considering Sheriff said no more than C minor, E flat major. Sheriff knew Turner could do it and he did! The New One departed from the norm with an extended free section with no diminution in the quality of the music. Dave Walsh bided his time, taking his solo opportunity on a corking Billie’s Bounce as the set finale. The amiable Sheriff thanked the few for turning out. The few thanked him, Pete and Dave for a great night of swinging jazz. In the coming months a new CD will be released (Jamil Sheriff said the recording went well) and a British tour to promote it would be in order, with, of course, a Newcastle date on the itinerary.        .
The Jazz Café continues to present jazz of the highest quality. What does it take to get the Tyneside jazz fan to attend gigs? The Jazz Café, the Lit and Phil, the Bridge Hotel. Don’t forget Hoochie Coochie and soon the Newcastle Jazz Co-op’s pride and joy, the Globe on Railway Street opens for business. You’ve never had it so good. ‘I knew nothing about it’ …’I was watching the telly’…’I’ve never heard of him’…’I’m afraid of the dark’…Boo!    
Russell.             

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