A New Generation of Dinosaur – Tonight at Sage Gateshead.

(Preview by Russell)

Kids can be obsessive about dinosaurs. They find them in breakfast cereal packets. They find them in comics. They watch them on screen. They cuddle them…the soft toy variety that is. This evening a New Generation of dinosaur will be roaming the south bank of the River Tyne.

The walking-talking-breathing musical beast that is Dinosaur will take centre stage in the intimate confines of Sage Two. See up close the workings of a four-part musical creation; Laura Jurd, trumpet, Elliot Galvin, keyboards, Conor Chaplin, bass and drummer Corrie Dick are Dinosaur. 

All four of these young musicians have played on Tyneside in recent times and this line-up is one of their regular gigs together. Trumpeter Laura Jurd is one of the most talked about musicians on the British scene. Featured in the 2014 Parliamentary Jazz Awards, Jurd has been selected as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist (2015-17). The BBC’s hothouse development scheme will afford the trumpeter the opportunity to a) compose, b) perform, and c) benefit from an enhanced public profile.

Messrs Galvin, Chaplin and Dick, themselves well-schooled musicians, will be part of an exciting, creative period. Tonight at Sage Gateshead you have the opportunity to witness a real life dinosaur in action. Fear not, it’s of the cuddly variety.

Talking of kids loving scary creatures…the Early Bird will be staying out late hoping to catch sight of a nocturnal dinosaur and to play a set themselves. The Early Bird Band is a walking-talking (occasionally grumpy!) group of talented teenagers beginning to make their mark on the north east jazz scene. A series of regular performances in Newcastle at the Lit & Phil and Jazz Café, and further afield at several County Durham locations, this moveable beast (the line-up varies from a five piece to maybe six or seven on a good day) will present a selection of transcribed classic tunes and original material. One or more of these guys could well become household names. This is your chance to be there and say: I heard them when they were young ’uns! Contact Sage Gateshead’s ticket office on 0191 443 4661. It’s an eight o’clock start. They’re a scarily talented lot – dinosaurs and birds.

Russell.