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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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. 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.

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

Monday, April 13, 2015

GIJF Day Two: On The Concourse

(Observations by Russell/photo courtesy of Ken Drew.)
An integral part of the Gateshead International Jazz Festival at Sage Gateshead is the non stop programme of jazz on the concourse. A social gathering – coffee, cake (some of it is likely to be scoffed as a freebie!), a glass of wine or a beer. The chatter, the snappers, an artist in residence, the place a hive of activity.
On this Saturday afternoon Jazz Attack – another of Sage Gateshead’s music education initiatives – opened proceedings. Lead by drummer Paul Edis*, this youth ensemble took to the stage from a staircase, playing as they walked onto the platform. A calypso (good, joyous material ideal in a festival setting), Satin Doll, the riffing Nick’s Late (the band’s title for a frequently late-arriving tenor player – no names, the clue is in the title) and the classic Nat Adderley number Work Song. MD Edis encouraged his charges, keen to hear their efforts rewarded with applause. The audience showed appreciation for several solo spots – tenor and alto particularly noteworthy – and the collective performance. Give it a year or two and some of these guys will become familiar names on the scene.
Improvising pianist Paul Taylor had the grand piano to himself for half an hour or so. In a typically restrained performance Taylor’s watercolour-wash impressionism engaged the attention of those up close, others a distance away perhaps missing out on the finer detail of his art.
The Ruth Lambert Trio ensured the sound balance was as good as it can be in the arena. Vocalist Lambert sang as well as ever, bassist Mick Shoulder and Giles Strong (guitar) as ever, were immaculate as accompanists as a set of original material was topped and tailed with GAS book classics You and the Night and the Music and Time After Time.
The Mark Gray Band (or was it Skake Yer/Your Brass?) entertained with a brassy jazz attack featuring the all-action David Gray (trombone). From Frankenstein to Brooklyn, it was just the sort of rousing stuff that cannot fail on the concourse at Sage Gateshead. The Cookers called a tea break in the Barbour Room. Instruments locked away, it was time to hear from the masters – read the report of the occasion posted by the editor of this blog.
Later, back on the concourse…the place was absolutely packed for the appearance of the one and only King Bee. Seats, upper level standing vantage points, staircase dwellers – a huge crowd lapped it up. Funkin’ great! The regular boys  - Dave Wilde, Richard Burns, Steve Glendinning and the great Chris Jelly – were joined by super-tight engine room deps. More! More!
Russell
* Ace pianist Paul Edis filled in on drums. A youth band short of a drummer? There has to be a joke in there somewhere. PS Don’t give up your day job, Dr Edis!

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