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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
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.

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, March 06, 2015

Lickety Split/Take it to the Bridge @ The Chillingham. March 4

Lickety Split:
Eddie Bellis (trombone), Paul Gowland (tenor saxophone), Alan Marshall (alto saxophone), Kevin Eland (trumpet & flugelhorn), Roy Willis (guitar), Bradley Johnston (guitar), Alan Rudd (bass) & Paul Wight (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Eddie Bellis’ octet is heard all too infrequently. The boys in the band are busy people –   getting them together in the same room, at the same time, is an achievement in itself. An invitation from Dave Weisser to Bellis to make a return visit to the Chillingham with his Lickety Split eight piece band did the trick. Such are the economics of the little big band, the boys didn’t play for ‘out-of-pocket’ expenses, they were, quite simply, out of pocket!
Weisser’s weekly workshop split into two (pre and post Lickety Split’s set) affording the luxury of a night off (door duties aside) for house drummer Norman Redhead as Lickety Split’s stickman Paul Wight submitted an overtime claim, working straight through on all three sets. Bags Groove indicated where Bellis was coming from and where they were heading for the rest of the one-hour set. The band’s frontline boasts formidable soloists – Bellis showed what he can do and gave numerous opportunities to Paul Gowland (tenor), Alan Marshall (alto) and the man from the stratosphere – top Cs Kevin Eland (trumpet & flugelhorn).
The seated rhythm strings kept things cookin’ – the out-of-sight Alan Rudd (obscured by the horns) sounded perfectly Kind of Blue all night. Roy Willis purred a la Freddie Green (88 Basie Street) and side-kick Bradley Johnston kicked-in with one or two excellent solo contributions. Straight No Chaser heard from Marshall and Johnston and the irrepressible Eland squeezin’ an’ teasin’ from on high. Bellis loves West Coast cool and plundered the Birth of the Cool. Lickety Split should gig more…watch this space.
Take it to the Bridge:
Dave Weisser (trumpet & vocals), Dougie Fielder (tenor saxophone), Barry Ascroft (keyboards), Mike Clarke (bass) & Paul Wight (drums) + Paul Gowland (alto saxophone)
Earlier and later, Main Man Weisser assembled the troops. A short first set and a short second set. Norman Redhead preoccupied with ushering in the audience, Paul Wight joined the house band as did Paul Gowland playing alto.
Wight set a crisp military-medium tempo on Nostalgia in Times Square prompting Dave Weisser’s vocalese fours with Wight. Main Man Weisser sang a Victor Newman number for the first time at the Chilli. Let’s hear it again DW. Gowland tore into One by One and, typical of Weisser’s eclectic selections, followed up with Rodgers and Hart’s Blue Room.
So, a busy night at the Chillingham – the jazz upstairs, the match downstairs (Newcastle 0 Man Utd 1). Dave Weisser’s Take it to the Bridge session has been running for longer than most care to remember (The Beamish Mary, The Bridge Hotel, The Blue Bell, The Egypt Cottage). Audience and sitters-in (all instruments) are most welcome. Last night’s schedule meant young drummer Matthew MacKellar didn’t get a chance to sit in. He’ll be back, why not join him? The Chilli is within spitting distance of Chillingham Road Metro station and bus stops en route to Newcastle city centre. Eight o’clock prompt (ish).      
Russell.

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