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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

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. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (piano); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Mark Hawkins (drums); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 04: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 04: Boys of Brass @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Ben Crosland Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 06: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £14.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Victory in Europe Afternoon Tea’ (VE Day 80th anniversary).
Tue 06: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 06: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 06: FILM: Whiplash @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 8:15pm.

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: 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

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Pannonica @ The Lit & Phil - Oct. 30.

Zoe Gilby, vocals, Andy Champion, bass and Paul Edis, Piano.
(Review/photo by Jerry)
Pannonica is Zoe Gilby’s tribute to the music of Thelonius Monk (via Carmen McRae i.e. Monk with lyrics). I’d not seen the show before but was glad I caught this abbreviated version today as it was a real treat: nine Monk tunes interspersed with anecdotes and explanations and, in passing, a top-notch impersonation of Graeme Wilson! I look forward to seeing the full programme sometime soon.
Many of the lyrics were penned by Jon Hendricks including the zingy opener Rhythm-a-ning and the three tunes which followed. Pannonica, re-titled with lyrics, became Little Butterfly – a beautiful love song in which I’m sure the lyrics captured Monk’s feelings:
Like the lovely flowers / I wait for hours Just to feel that touch / The touch that I love so much
One day she'll flutter by I'll hold out my hand / And capture my butterfly.
Monk’s Dream, or Man, That’s A Dream featured some scat and a nice bass solo and Reflections, or Looking Back had a lovely piano finish. The line: “Thank God I’m a woman who knows” sounded like Zoe justifiably defending her choice of material!
Think of One, with lyrics by a Dutch vocalist, became When I Think of One. I’m not sure how the lyrics reflect the original unless it was about insecure love: When I think of one, I think of you / When you think of one, you think of who? There was a groovy piano solo and the final “who” sounded like a Tawny Owl in full cry.
I Mean You, with lyrics by Coleman Hawkins and Hendricks featured a great bass solo and was as near to “catchy” as Monk gets. Ugly Beauty, with lyrics by Mike Ferro, became And Still We Dream – a beautiful ballad / waltz about the end of a love affair. I like the way rhymes like “charming / alarming” crop up in Ferro’s lyrics echoing the oxymoronic original title.
My two favourites on the day were Blue Monk/Monkery’s the Blues and Brilliant Corners  When I’m Alone. The latter was amazing, musically – so complex that Monk’s band in 1956 (including Sonny Rollins), after no fewer than 25 takes, gave up and an edited “composite” had to go on the album. Today’s musicians were undeterred and the audience whooped their approval. Blue Monk was the closing number and Edis and Champion, who had solo-ed brilliantly throughout, saved their best till last and Zoe, whose vocals had been mesmerising elsewhere was really at home on this “blue highway”. I loved the lyrics, too – Abbey Lincoln, I believe:
Finding your one Place in the sun, Doesn't come the easy way Shallow or deep, Nothing is cheap, Measured by the dues you pay..
The lyrics perfectly fitted the tune – but not the occasion: I paid £4 and this was worth SO much more. I loved every minute!
Jerry

1 comment :

Nonsociopath Skin said...

An excellent gig. I wasn't sure I liked Thelonius Monk's music until then ...

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