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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 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 @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

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, January 28, 2015

Laura Jurd Septet @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. January 27

Lauren Kinsella (voice), Laura Jurd (trumpet), Chris Batchelor (trumpet), Colm O’Hara (trombone), Mick Foster (bass saxophone), Alex Roth (guitar) & Corrie Dick (drums)  
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Ken Drew).
Last Tuesday in the month, Jazz North East’s Schmazz strand, upstairs at the Jazz Café. The ‘Caff’ was closed, the shutters down. Had Laura Jurd’s gig been cancelled? Ah! Of course, the gig had been scheduled in the Black Swan around the corner!
The Newcastle Arts Centre on Westgate Road was open for business. The Black Swan – a basement bar and performance space – is a large venue. Jazz North East anticipated a larger audience than usual for the visit by the much talked about trumpeter and, indeed, a larger than usual audience turned up.
Jurd is on tour. Her second album – Human Spirit – garnered favourable reviews and the line-up on the recording committed to the tour. Irishwoman Lauren Kinsella (now living in London) introduced Colm O’Hara to Jurd. The Irish trombonist impressed, got the job of working on the studio session and made the journey across the Irish Sea to tour the UK
The septet opened, appropriately, with Opening Sequence. As the evening unfolded Jurd gave many solo opportunities to her hand-picked band. Bass sax plumber Mick Foster hit on a free vamp with drummer Corrie Dick during She Knew Him (a highlight of the first, enjoyable set).
Vocalist Lauren Kinsella (another much talked about young musician) is a familiar face (and voice) to the Newcastle audience, this being her fourth gig on Tyneside in recent years. Her distinctive approach met with the approval of more than one vocalist in the Black Swan crowd. A mischievous, light, southern Irish burr played with sound; a lyric deconstructed, reconstructed, exemplified in an exchange with Chris Batchelor on a forward looking (it will soon be spring) Brighter Days. Many of the tunes were anchored by the excellent drumming of the award-winning Corrie Dick. A trumpet/drums section sparkled inviting others to step up – Alex Roth (guitar), Kinsella, plumber Foster. Pirates (written with Mark Lockheart in mind) ended the set. The tune is available to download for free at: www.laurajurd.com
Second set. Roth and Dick set about tearing up Blinded. Jurd’s writing lets her musicians off the leash, but only so far before reining them in and the duo would have to continue a dialogue some other time (next gig). Jurd herself played with a minimum of pedal effects.   An accomplished trumpeter, more trumpet wouldn’t have gone amiss. The CD title track – Human Spirit – settled into another riff/vamp featuring Batchelor and Dick. The gig’s penultimate number – More Than Just a Fairy Tale – worked well, a collective piece. A concert beginning with Opening Sequence could only be brought to a close with Closing Sequence. And so it was. Jurd has established her name. It will be interesting to see what she does next. This gig was the first in a series of PRS funded Jazz North East concerts – Women Make Music – showcasing some of the best female musicians working in jazz today.      
Russell.           

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