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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
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: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

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: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ 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: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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, January 30, 2016

Matt Anderson’s Wildflower Sextet @ Ushaw College. January 29

Matt Anderson (tenor & soprano saxophones), Laura Jurd (trumpet), Jamil Sheriff (keyboards), Alex Munk (guitar), Sam Vicary (double bass) & Sam Gardner (drums)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Pam Young)
It’s the middle of nowhere on the outskirts of Durham. It’s the end of January. It’s cold and it’s dark. Let’s choose a poorly sign-posted venue on a sprawling country estate off an unlit road. Let’s put on a gig! Only a jazz promoter would think it could work.
What do you know? Fifty, perhaps sixty people, turned-up! And on a night of gale-force winds wreaking havoc across the north of England. Ushaw College, an amazing country pile – think Durham Cathedral, then some – screened from the road by mature woodland, is in the process of transforming itself from a Catholic seminary into a multi arts venue.
Classical, folk and jazz concerts are just some of the regular events at Ushaw. January’s jazz gig featured the Matt Anderson Sextet. The Leeds College of Music graduate (First Class Honours) has assembled a band of fine musicians. All are busy, the Yorkshire link a common bond, the lure of London irresistible for some, they get together from time to time to play some Wayne Shorter tunes and some Matt Anderson tunes. This Durham date, in the refectory, kicked-off with Anderson’s JG (Ballard). The tenor man led, Alex Munk (guitar) followed, as did the under-amplified pianist Jamil Sheriff. The horns were heard acoustically, the rhythm section boys – the Two Sams, top coats and woolly hats – were on the money right from the off, all the makings of a great gig. But it was cold. Boy, it was cold. The audience wore winter coats and hats, just like the Two Sams.
Wayne Shorter the inspiration, Anderson played Ponta de Areia, recorded by Shorter and Milton Nascimento some forty-odd years ago. Trumpeter Laura Jurd developed an intro, the relaxed Alex Munk showed what he could do, the band nicely warmed up, musically, if not literally! Jurd featured once more on Masqualero – in 7/4, said Anderson. Shorter, then Anderson, the bandleader’s tunes stood comparison. Three Clowns (comp. MA) was perhaps the highlight of the first set with Anderson’s commanding solo marking him out as an individual voice amongst his peers.
Second set, straight in with a swinging Sfumato. Another Anderson tune first heard up the road in Newcastle, MA and LJ had their say, then Munk. Sam ‘Woolly Hat’ Vicary stated the melody on Burning Man (another familiar Anderson composition), grabbed a solo, as did Jurd, as did the fluent band leading Anderson. A new arrangement of Iris from Miles Davis’ Sorcerer featured a beautifully considered solo from the consistently impressive Alex Munk and Jamil Sheriff, heard to better effect in the second set, reminded us that he is a fine pianist. Anderson closed the set with a new long form composition. Described as a ‘through composed’ work, Loch Lomond Mists featured Anderson on soprano. Reams of sheet music covered music stands and Sam Gardner’s drum kit (a word for Gardner – excellent, as always). The Ushaw College audience responded with sustained applause. A delighted Anderson returned to the stand with one more. A bluesy, swinging Fire Dance featured late night horns saying this and that, the kind of tune that could have gone on for another chorus or two and no one would have complained.
February’s gig – Friday 26 – is one for lovers of GASbook chamber jazz. The Virtuoso Jazz Trio (they live up to the name) are George MacDonald (clarinet), James Birkett (guitar) and Tony Abell (double bass).                   
Russell.

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