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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.

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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.

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

Saturday, June 27, 2015

Le Jazz Hot - C'est Si Bon!

Paris June 2015
(Review/Photos by Peter Ninnim)
750 people packed the Lecture Theatre in the  Maison des Oceans in Paris, paying thirty two Euros a head to see the Shai Maestro Trio present an off the wall programme of modern jazz. This was the “Festival Jazz at Saint-Germain des  Pres” in Paris.
By chance my good lady had booked us a five day Paris break coinciding with the first part of this two week event and what with that and all the normal Jazz clubs it was wall to wall jazz!
Diary.
Day one.
Jazz club Chez Papa just down the street from the hotel in the Rue St-Benoit. Pianist Remi Toulon and Bass player Jean-Luc Arramy Drummer not available and unfortunately no Kit lying about.  These two were a revelation; lots of original stuff and very melodic. It must have been good, I bought a CD! The food in the club was first class (and as in all Paris very reasonable in price) and as there was no admission fee it was an excellent evening and we left after midnight.
Day two.
Lots of Jazz on the street, largely New Orleans based.
Day Three.
Shai Maestro trio as above. What a band. Based in New York but travelling the world. Keep an eye out for the band if they appear in the UK. The bass player, Jorge Roeder was exceptional but the drummer Ziv Ravitz was in a class of his own. The concert scheduled for two hours over ran by about 45 minutes. Three standing ovations and the stand selling CDs at the end impossible to reach. The drummer in particular was a big favourite with the audience and he was a bit show-biz but he was entitled to be so.
After about thirty minutes I really started to appreciate the music; it wasn’t that there was lots of technical difficulty as far as I could see but the way it all went together just worked completely. There are a few good extracts on youtube which might give a taste of the trio.
Anyway out of the theatre at 11.45 and round the corner to a bar that we had spotted which turned out to be a club famous in the area and called “Le petit Journal”. Here in a cellar down two flights of stairs we found wonderful soprano sax player Marc Laferrierre and his band playing understated New Orleans Jazz until one o’clock. They unusually spoke very little English and I am unsure of the names as there was a quite a lot of sitting-in. I think that the trumpet was Boss Queraud.
Excellent band; we were not asked for admission (as it was so late) but the beer was 15 Euros a pint! The sort of club everyone wishes to stumble across!
Day 4
Came across a trio playing soft jazz in the café Beaux Arts, on the Left Bank near Notre Dame, but could not stay long; other non-music events called.
Day  5
Free street concert; first “Utopia Quartet” and then “Agathe Jazz Quartet.”  Both these groups were vocalist led and were warmly appreciated by a very large audience outside the “Deux Magots” café on the Boulvard Saint Germaine.
A great week; and sorry to leave before all the other jazz on the programme. I’ll try again next year. With more time there were plenty of late night Jam sessions available of a very high standard.
Photos.
Peter N.

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