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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17744 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 64 of them this year alone and, so far, 64 this month (Jan. 26).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 12 noon-2:00pm (two sets). £12.00. admission (card or cash at the door). Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums). Note change of venue, no longer at Mrs M’s as advertised, the concert will be in the Old Library (Bishop Auckland Jazz’s regular venue). Important! It’s a ‘BYOB’ arrangement - ie bring your own booze (and/or tea, coffee, soft drinks).
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:00pm. ‘Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Balkan & More!’.
Fri 31: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Country blues duo.
Fri 31 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Wylam Institute. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf.
Fri 31: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £10.00 + bf. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.
Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00 Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 31: SwanNek + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SwanNek’s new single launch gig. Pilgrim, formerly Hoochie Coochie.
Fri 31: King Bees @ Blues Underground; Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

February 2025

Sat 01: Alan Barnes & John Hallam with the Tom Kincaid Trio @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 01: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 01: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Western swing etc.

Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 02: Jive Aces @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Sun 02: John Pope + Andy Champion + Ian Paterson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Subterranean Explorations 1’. Three (half hour) solo bass sets.
Sun 02: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. 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

Friday, November 07, 2014

Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil. November 7

(Review by Russell/photos by Jerry)
More seats were brought into the Loftus Room at the Lit & Phil, a sure sign that many people wanted to be at today’s concert. Pianist Paul Edis performed a solo programme consisting of eleven compositions (five of them written by Edis).
The first three tunes in a varied programme were by Edis; Pulse (the melody unfurling quietly), From Nothing to Nowhere and Not Like Me (typically Edis!). The Rodgers & Hart standard Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered followed and instantly became the odds on favourite for this reviewer’s ‘Performance of the Year 2014’. Within minutes Rodgers & Hammerstein’s My Favourite Things topped it, then an unlikely contender – Percy Grainger’s English Country Garden – jockeyed for pole position! The playing couldn’t have been better. The audience loved it, one hour of sheer joy.
Distraction, Edis’ commentary on the iPhone generation’s nano-second concentration span, flitted from hardcore hammered pianism to brilliantly executed fleeting classical references, to walking, syncopated bass lines, by way of a swinging jazz piano trio. In the absence of bass and drums this was something else! Horace Silver’s Nica’s Dream and John Coltrane’s epic Giant Steps reinstated the standard; Edis explored both tunes without ever losing the melodic essence at the heart of them.
Bring Me Sunshine. Eric and Ernie’s signature tune (comp. Kent & Dee) brought a big smile to many a face. It swung. Good piano players can make anything swing. Dr Edis ended his ‘recital’ (we were in the Literary and Philosophical Society, after all) in the same we he started it, with a mellow original, Sunrise. Paul Edis can be heard later on tonight at the Jazz Café on Pink Lane in the company of Mick Shoulder (double bass) and drummer Adam Sinclair. First set 9:00pm, get there early to secure a seat.  
Russell. 
at

1 comment :

JC said...

This was an almost perfect concert. Starting from the pleasure of walking into the Lit and Phil; an oasis of calm in the chaos of whatever is being done to Central Station. A quick look in the library to be reassured that actual books still exist, a cup of tea and some (free) biscuits and then into a room that just had a grand piano and plenty of chairs. They were needed as there was a big crowd, which was great. In his review, Russell has described very well the artistry in the playing of Paul Edis but I was also struck by the craft in his composing and interpreting of tunes. He explained that From Nothing to Nowhere (one of my favourites from his solo album) was not, in fact, a musical version of one of Samuel Beckett's happier plays but was originally intended to be a bridge between two other pieces. In the end he liked it enough to have it stand on its own. He played his version of Giant Steps because he recognised it as 'a very good tune'. His reconstructions of old tunes whether of Victorian, music hall or stage musical origins are always just familiar enough to bring out a pleasurable smile of familiarity followed by the thrill of hearing them extended and explored. The concert ended with the audience grabbing their coats and hats and strolling happily along the Sunny Side of the Street.
The slight imperfection? The show was far too short.
JC

Sunday, November 09, 2014 4:46:00 pm

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