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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.

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

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.

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

Monday, January 04, 2016

CD Review: Live at Foxrock Folk Club – The Parish Hall Tapes (revisited)

(Editors note: We don't normally do more than one review of the same CD unless the second contributor is offering a totally different view which isn't the case here. However, due to the holiday period causing some lack of communication among our blogforce, fans of Irish folk, jazz and blues can read again the fascinating story of the Foxrock Folk Club and the resultant recordings.)
(Review by Russell)
To the south of Dublin is the village of Cornelscourt. In the 1960s its ‘rather nondescript and rundown’ parish hall was to become the venue of Foxrock Folk Club presenting folk, jazz, blues and poetry. A 15 year old local schoolboy, Kevin McCann, had a reel-to-reel tape recorder. He took it along to the parish hall and recorded many of the musicians who played at the club during 1970-72. Somehow the tapes survived down the years and some fifteen years ago were transferred to CD. Careful restoration and mastering followed and The Parish Hall Tapes is the result.
The two discs have a generous running time; the first at over one hour, the second at one hour fifteen minutes. Legendary names on the Irish folk scene were recorded at Foxrock  – Al O’Donnell, Andy Irvine, Luke Kelly and Ronnie Drew to name but four – as were a host of superb acoustic blues musicians and a first rate jazz outfit.
Disc one, comprising of nineteen tracks of which thirteen feature traditional folk material, covers a wide range. Some of the recorded sessions include potent political commentaries from Luke Kelly – Alabama ’58 and Jail of Cluain Meala – the bluesmen Red Peters and Brian Fry play country blues, Johnny Norris plays ragtime and, as the informative album notes point out, pianist Tony Drennan plays Meade Lux Lewis on ‘the somewhat battered parish hall piano’. Peters and Fry – known as Clawhammer – play Alberta. Peters’ vocals are quite something, big and powerful. The jazz tune on the first CD is Please Don’t Talk About Me When I’m Gone by the Butler Fox Jazz Band. Clarinettist Phil Butler and Rock Fox (trumpet and flugelhorn) co-led one of Ireland’s finest traditional to mainstream jazz bands. The septet, including pianist Tony Drennan, was surely one to be heard, and now, thanks to Cornelscourt Records, this fascinating documentary project brings them to life.   
The second CD includes a collector’s item. Luke Kelly singing Blackwaterside is his one and only available recording of the song. Ronnie Drew sings McAlpine’s Fusiliers, a tune as pertinent today as it was at the time of this 1972 recording. The Dirty Dozens – Johnny Norris and Gerry Doyle, guitars, Red Peters, vocals, Shay Fogarty, harmonica – are heard on Statesboro Blues and it is Peters and Fogarty (superb harp playing) who steal the show with Louise, Louise Blues. The thirty-seventh and closing track features nine minutes and twenty two seconds of sheer excitement as the Butler Fox Jazz Band blow up a storm on Swinging the Blues. The audience response is ecstatic (a noticeable feature across the two CDs) as Fox proudly introduces the ‘All Irish Rhythm Section’ of Tony Drennan, Jimmy McKay on bass, and ‘the incomparable’ John Wadham, drums.
Principal credits:
Kevin McCann, original recordings at Foxrock Folk Club, Cornelscourt
Johnny ‘Oldhitz’ Hughes, transfer to CD
Adam Sinclair, restoration and mastering
Barry Somerville, art work and design
Liam Clare and Michael Blake, photography
Jeremy Kearney, producer
The Parish Hall Tapes is clearly a labour of love for all those involved with the project – the restoration of the tapes, the research, the CD artwork and the lovingly written booklet.
For those with a passing interest, The Parish Hall Tapes is a recommended purchase. For those with a keen interest, consider it an essential purchase.
Russell
Live at Foxrock Folk Club – The Parish Hall Tapes is available on Cornelscourt Records, catalogue number CR 001.

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