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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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

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.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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, September 15, 2015

Jazz North East presents Splinter @ the Bridge, with OZMA meets Buster – Sept. 13

Julien Soro (saxophones); Paul Jarret (guitar); Edouard Séro-Guillaume (bass); Stéphane Scharlé (drums).
(Review by Steve H./Photos courtesy of Ken Drew) 
Last month a packed St Gabriels Church in Heaton hosted the Buster Keaton classic Steam Boat Bill Junior with a live accompaniment from TV star and silent movie expert Neil Brand. It was a fantastic evening as the movie is a classic and Brand is clearly a very accomplished musician. My wife looked sceptical when on the way home I remarked how much more I would have enjoyed it had the music been of the improvised jazz variety.
Well on Sunday at the Bridge Hotel I was granted my wish as this French band produced a live performance to accompany Buster Keaton’s 3 Ages of Man. The film, Keaton’s first full length feature as director, may not be his finest but it is still very funny. 
The film’s themes focus on man’s perennial attempts to win the girl from a love rival. Each segment of the courtship is shown in 3 different eras, Stone Age, Ancient Rome and 1920’s New York. All the thrills of a classic Keaton film are on show providing an inspirational backdrop for the band to improvise with.
My own favourite scene is when Buster has to take on his adversary in a chariot race in Ancient Rome so as to impress his prospective beau’s parents. As the race is about to start there is a snow storm so Buster replaces the wheels on his chariot with skis and the horses with huskies. All is going well until a conspirator of his rival lures the dogs away with the aid of a small kitten. Our hero captures the kitten attaches it to a stick which he then dangles in front of the huskies who in their frantic attempt to reach the kitten carry him to victory. All the action of the film was wonderfully augmented by the quartet who caught the relevant moods perfectly. At the conclusion of the film the near capacity crowd responded with rapturous applause.
For the second set the quartet played a selection of their own composition and what a treat it was. The band have known each other since attending the conservatoire together in Strasbourg in 2001 and this was reflected in the wonderful empathy they had with each other. The music was powerful, original, creative and exhilarating. All 4 players were fabulous but there was a particular guitar solo by Paul Jaret at the start of a piece that was best thing I have heard all year. The response at the conclusion of the final piece was even more enthusiastic than that given at the interval. Indeed certain members of the audience could be overheard plotting the logistics of a trip to Berwick on Friday night where the band will be performing at ‘The Maltings’.
All in all, a great start to Jazz North East’s monthly Sunday night Splinter season.
Steve H.

2 comments :

Ken Drew (on F//b) said...

Lovely review, Steve of a wonderful performance. A gig of two distinct halves - literally - and quite exhilarating all the way through. A fantastic start to the new season of jazz from Jazz North East

Paul Bream said...

I agree entirely with Steve and Ken about the quality of the performance. Most musicians playing accompaniments to silent movies seem to feel that they have to work broadly in the musical style of the film's own era, but what was fantastic about the OZMA performance was that the music was uncompromisingly contemporary, yet worked perfectly with the images on screen - a demonstration that great art (and in this case I mean the film and the music) has the capacity to work across the (three) ages.

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