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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

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.

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.

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

Friday, January 15, 2016

Havana Style Cuban Jam Session @ The Jazz Café. January 14

(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
Advertised as a ‘Havana-style Cuban jam session’ this new twice monthly session is in need of a snappier moniker. The first cold blast of winter didn’t auger well. Early signs were that few if any would show up. Havana is more likely than not basking in glorious sunshine, whilst here in Newcastle the thermometer dipped below zero. Three fifths of Tyneside’s Havana Club 5 ignored the chill wind and set about dispelling winter’s worst.
Señor Carlos, Señor Alan and Señor Paul have been playing Latin grooves for years and years resulting in an intuitive understanding of which direction the music will take them and their interaction with the audience makes for a genuine social occasion. Ah, yes, the audience did materialise and they weren’t your regular jazz crowd, they were Tyneside’s Latino diaspora. Carlos Luis Rivera sang several songs, the subject matter seemingly of universal themes; relationships (blossoming/failing), family, community. The Spanish-speaking audience got it, singing along, clapping – a social occasion.
Tula’s Room to jazz-inflected Dr Billy Taylor/Ramsey Lewis territory and back to Cuban rhythms in myriad form. David Gray joined the party and, as ever, entertained with an all action display, leading the Havana boys into Song for My Father. The Jazz Café began to get busy, just in time for the Amazing Latino Dancing Girls. They weren’t known by that name but your correspondent decided on the spot that’s what they were! If Bebop Spoken Here’s editor had been present, he’d have marked this down as Gig of the Year!
Pianist Alan Law took five, encouraging Paul Wilson to play. Initially hesitant, a Ramsey Lewis vibe, in fact it was, more or less, The In Crowd showed that Wilson could play. He could well show-up at next week’s jazz jam session (Tuesday 19), let’s hope he does. As is the way, sometimes one doesn’t get a break. Señor Paul, Paul Grainger worked without a break. Just when he thought he was finished for the night, in walked Paul Gowland. PG said to PG (Grainger to Gowland)…’Fancy a blow?’ Gowland (not long out of a big band rehearsal): ‘Aye, why not?’ Rivera’s partly-dismantled set-up didn’t deter him, choosing to sit down to play. Similarly Gowland remained seated at a front row table to blow some tenor. They played some jazz, prompting the smiling Rivera to implore: ‘Latino! Latino!’ And so it went on. If this inaugural Cuban jam session is anything to go by, it is likely to develop into another of those ‘must-get-to’ sessions. The dates for your new 2016 diary: second and fourth Thursdays in the month. The next one is on January 28, eight o’clock.                                
Russell.
Carlos Luis Rivera (bongos, timbales, cowbell & vocals), Alan Law (piano) & Paul Grainger (double bass) + second set David Gray (trombone) & Paul Wilson (piano) + impromptu third set Paul Gowland (tenor saxophone) + the Amazing Latino Dancing Girls!

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