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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

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.

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, May 18, 2015

Kurt Elling for Sage Gateshead!!!

(Preview by Russell).
This Wednesday, May 20, there is only one place to be – Sage Gateshead. Kurt Elling, the pre-eminent singer of his generation, is in town. Chicago-born Elling will be singing with the finest big band in the land, the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra in a programme celebrating the centenary of the birth of the pre-eminent singer of the twentieth century – Frank Sinatra.
This Sage Gateshead concert appearance will be the only date in England. Elling will fly in from the States to link up with Tommy Smith’s award-winning orchestra, make for the rehearsal studio, then make the trip to Gateshead Quays. After that, Elling, Smith and the band head north of the border to play a further four dates before the Chicagoan flies back to the States. You could catch him at Birdland in NYC, or perhaps on the French Riviera when he returns to Europe to headline at the Nice Jazz Festival. Booking tickets for Sage Gateshead is the easier option! Kurt Elling with a big band in Hall One promises to be an unforgettable experience.
Kurt Elling and Tommy Smith were born in the same year – 1967. The American singer read philosophy by day, sitting-in at jazz clubs by night. Jazz won out, the student Elling sang for little in the way of financial reward but his determination to make it is our gain. Smith’s music teacher recognised her saxophonist student had something special. At the age of sixteen he recorded his first album – Giant Strides. Two years later, thanks to the local community raising funds, Smith was able to enroll at Berklee. Gary Burton drafted him into his band and Smith went on to record with his own band Forward Motion.
A teenage Tommy Smith played gigs for Jazz North East, went on to release two dozen albums and, twenty years ago, founded the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Smith, the orchestra’s Artistic Director, has established the band at the top of its profession. Tours throughout the UK with guest soloists have become a fixture on the jazz scene and such is the band’s reputation it has toured North America.
Kurt Elling possesses a four-octave baritone voice, for many years working with pianist Laurence Hobgood. He has been voted Best Male Vocalist in Down Beat’s Critics’ Poll for the last fourteen years, the magazine’s Readers’ Poll is catching up (eight at the last count), Jazz Times’ awards are many, as are Grammy Award nominations with the 2009 recording Dedicated to You securing a Grammy for Best Vocal Jazz Album. Having had the privilege of recording for Blue Note and working with a long list of the very best in the business (Joanne Brackeen, Bob Mintzer and Jon Hendricks to name but three) Kurt Elling is at the top of his game. The Scottish National Jazz Orchestra boasts some of the best musicians working in jazz today. The orchestra without a guest artist is well worth hearing, with Kurt Elling on the bill ‘Elling Swings Sinatra’ at Sage Gateshead is a live contender for gig of the year! Book now – telephone the ticket office on 0191 443 4661.  
Russell.

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