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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

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

Sunday, October 11, 2015

Taupe + Dead Hedge Trio @ The Head of Steam. October 9

(Review by Russell)
Dashing from the Jazz Café – foregoing Paul Edis’ solo piano concert – to the recently refurbished Head of Steam pub to hear two power jazz trios made for what can only be described as an evening of extreme contrast! Broadly, the Jazz Café presented ‘jazz’ as we know it, the Head of Steam offered punk-jazz – ‘skronk’ wouldn’t you know – at a level of volume that some simply wouldn’t appreciate or tolerate. A triple bill, the first act – Waskerley Way – had been and gone before your reviewer arrived late, hot foot from the Jazz Café (see earlier posting).
Just taking the stage were the Dead Hedge Trio who, earlier in the year, played a gig at the nearby Jazz Café. Nick Branton (tenor & baritone saxophones), Rory Ballantyne (guitar) and Michael Metcalfe (drums) travelled from Liverpool to play a set of forty minutes or so in front of a predominately student audience. Standing with a pint in hand is to be expected, some chose to arrive on/with a skateboard. So, some stood with pint and skateboard in hand as the band ventured to the outer limits of a post Brötzmann world. Pedal boards, extension tracks, looped, processed sound. Branton blew tenor. Branton blew baritone. Physical, ferocious. Drummer Michael Metcalfe hammered mercilessly, a glance, a smile. Guitarist Ballantyne appeared the epitome of serenity amidst the cacophony. Ah, don’t be fooled, his pedal board set-up made him culpable, guilty by way of joint enterprise, in a set including Antibiotic and some Sun Ra. Check out the Dead Hedge Trio, they’re good.
Headliners Taupe formed at Newcastle University. The ‘power jazz commando trio’ are Adam Stapleford (drums), Jamie Stockbridge (alto saxophone) and guitarist Mike Parr-Burman. As post grads they’re on the road taking their music to all four corners. A Newcastle Head of Steam gig was something of a homecoming. More pedal boards, track and cabling. Parr-Burman, standing between drums and alto, has a personal, identifiable   sound integral to Taupe. Thunderous, measured riffs give free reign to his band mates to create razor-sharp improvisations. Stapleford’s precision power drumming ranks with the very best on the scene as altoist Stockbridge wrenched a braying horn into the maelstrom. Hugely impressive, an immersive experience, resistance is futile, enjoy!     
Russell           

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

The Dead Hedge Trio guitarist is Rory Ballantyne, two names are associated in error in this review.

Lance said...

Error corrected - our apologies ,

Russell said...

Error corrected by the editor. My apologies, as the incompetent author of the piece, for getting it wrong. If one thing should be got right it is a name.

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