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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 04: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 04: Ben Crosland Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. 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

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Paragon @ Jazz Café October 28.

Peter Ehwald (reeds); Arthur Lea (keyboards); Matthias Akeo Nowak (bass); Jon Scott (drums).
(Review by Steve H/photo courtesy of Ken Drew.) 
Maybe David Cameron and Angel Merkel should have been at this gig last night to observe this wonderfully cohesive and elegant Anglo-German collaboration. If our politicians could work as well together as these talented musicians our future in Europe would not be in any doubt.
The last time this band played in Newcastle was five years ago and, although each member has gone off in-between times to pursue their own goals, once reunited they become a helluva tight symbiotic force. The music is certainly not wild but rather intricate and considered in a Northern European kind of way albeit with lots of funky riffs from Lea on keyboard. My personal favourite tunes of the night were the more up tempo numbers that concluded each set. The first of these was inspired by a one-way ticket that Ehwald had acquired for a festival in Morocco. His ebullient soprano really grabbed the audience with its vibrant eastern feel.
The final piece, the romantically named (according to Ehwald anyway) Blue Eyes White Dragon, saw the band lay down a groove with Lea on Rhodes getting seriously soulful. The audience showed their appreciation and were rewarded with an encore although, unlike its lively predecessor, this was a quiet ballad.  It is great to see a band of such technically gifted musicians so obviously reveling in each other’s company, their quality and enthusiasm could not but help rub off on a more than respectably sized Tyneside audience.    
JAZZ RECORD RECITAL
Literary & Philosophical Society
Earlier in the evening DJ Chris Calver spun some vinyl at a recital at the Lit and Phil the tracks were selected from the donated record collection of the late Ian Breach interspersed with these Jazz classics there was a selection from the library's classical collection chosen by Lit & Phil president Alexander Armstrong so alongside Dizzy, Monk, Goodman and Mingus we were treated to works from Bach, Beethoven and Benjamin Britten. Eclectic but fun.
Steve H.

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