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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
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.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

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, June 12, 2015

Lickety Split @ the Jazz Café. June 11

Eddie Bellis (trombone), Paul Gowland (tenor saxophone), Alan Marshall (alto saxophone), Kevin Eland (trumpet & flugelhorn), Bradley Johnston (guitar), Roy Willis (guitar), Paul Grainger (double bass) & Paul Wight (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Eddie Bellis’ eight piece band gigs infrequently, band members are forever juggling other gigs. The Jazz Café offered a date well in advance and on a sultry summer evening Bellis and co played two sets to an enthusiastic gathering. Doors and windows open, the bar too, drummer Paul Wight brushed a path for a classy Blues Walk. No matter how often a well known tune is heard, if it’s played lovingly, with commitment, then you’re at a good gig.
Lickety Split are all about good gigs. The material is key, as are the musicians. A number of changes in personnel over the years, the current line-up is, perhaps, as good as anyone, not least bandleader Bellis, could wish for. One dep on the night – Paul Grainger in for a touring Alan Rudd – and one couldn’t see the joins. Bassist Grainger read the parts (most of them familiar numbers), the most reliable of deputies. An arrangement of Monk’s Well You Needn’t, then 88 Basin Street at a no-hurry Freddie Greene (Roy Willis) lick took the honours with Bellis leading a round of solos; Paul Gowland on tenor and frontline partner Alan Marshall (alto) and the seated six-string phenomenon Bradley Johnston.
Maynard Ferguson, aka Kevin Eland, kept himself in check, teasing out a cluster of notes on Doxy, before handing on the baton to a bopping Johnston. Great playing all round. The band grabbed an interval beer, the audience likewise. Good to note one or two new faces, younger faces at that. How did they find about the gig? They’ll be back.
This being summertime, drummer Paul Wight opted for a ‘tailored’ pair of shorts. No one said anything. Wight decided to get his retaliation in first drawing attention to his fashion statement. Bellis said: I hadn’t noticed, but as you’ve mentioned it…
The band’s bop to West Coast sound offers endless possibilities; Bags Groove was one of them with altoist Marshall, then a muted Eland knocking out cracking solos. Johnston got the nod from Bellis to take a solo. Well, this was meat and drink to BJ, he was all over it (owing something to a certain JB)! Bellis usually gravitates to cool school Miles and this Jazz Café set did just that. The Birth of the Cool interspersed with other choice cuts saw out the session; What’s New? Joyspring (Paul Grainger enjoying himself), All Blues (Gowland went off on one, touching down with a text book landing), Move, Rouge and Four. They thought they were done. Not so fast…Encore! Encore!
Lickety Split is a cracking band. Easy going guys…not so easy to pin down to a gig date! So, any promoter keen to offer them a gig, don’t hesitate. Email Bebop Spoken Here and we’ll put you in touch with the band. Lickety Split can be heard again at Bonbar (known to all as the Old Assembly Rooms) in Newcastle on Sunday 30 August.       
Russell.

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