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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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

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.
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.

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

Tuesday, May 05, 2015

Tim Garland Quartet @ Sage Gateshead - May 4

Tim Garland (ten/sop); Jason Rebello )pno); Ant Law (gtrs); Asaf Sirkis  (dms).
(Review by Lance).
A stonker of a gig! Whew! Four of the UK's finest going for Gold and getting it! The opening Bill Evans composition, Re Person I Knew, set the mood for the evening which was beautiful. Ant Law, a man of many guitars, chose a 12 string for this number and, it blended perfectly. I have to confess that, until that moment in time, I'd regarded 12 string guitars as only slightly less allergic to my ears than banjos. Not anymore - at least not in the hands of Ant Law (I wonder if he also plays banjo?)
Rebello played plenty piano whilst Sirkis  produced every sound imaginable from his exotic kit.
Garland? Simply an object lesson in tenor playing (and later, soprano).
Tyne Song, from Garland's justly acclaimed Songs to the North Sky album, really did paint a picture of our beloved river capturing the mood perfectly - foggy, turbulent, the industry (what's left of it) and the merger with the North Sea - magic.
When our worthy saxophonist announced he was going to play tenor and piano simultaneously I thought to myself, is he going to play saxophone with his hands and piano with his feet? No, much more subtle than that!
He simply blew his tenor across the piano strings with the resulting vibrations blending perfectly.
Clever and effective!
Sirkis was merely fantastic, whether on hang drum or behind a kit that was surely purchased in a Persian Market Place he played with punch, drive and taste - what a guy!
This was one of those nights that you wished would never end!
Come back soon was my immediate thought as the final note was sounded and the applause died down.
The good news is that at least one of them will be back in the not too distant future.
Asaf Sirkis plays The Globe as part of guitarist Maciek Pysz's trio on November 21.
Lance.
PS: Just in case you think I've short-changed Jason Rebello I'll just add that I doubt if the Hall Two grand piano has ever sounded so good!

1 comment :

Hugh said...

Agreed, Lance and a strong contender for gig of the month, if not the year. Don't forget Ant Law is back in the region at Hexham on Wednesday 20th May (http://www.queenshall.co.uk/whats-on/seasons-diary/1011 ) - stiff competition from hall one at SageGateshead though!

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