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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington (National Trust), Cambo, Morpeth NE61 4AR. 12 noon & 2:00pm. Admission to site £19.00.
Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Archie Brown & Friends @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00-8:00pm. 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

Sunday, January 31, 2016

Zoe Gilby (vocals) & Andy Champion (double bass) @ Jazz Cafe. January 23 via Sheila Jordan @ Cantina Bentivoglio, Bologna, Italy. Summer 2015

(Reviews/photo of Sheila Jordan by JC)
Scanning the internet for possible jazz gigs prior to a trip to Italy last summer I was impressed by the range and variety of concerts on offer but unfortunately either the date or location meant they were not accessible. However, on closer examination, the gig listings of a jazz club in Bologna mentioned a concert by veteran American singer Sheila Jordan on a date that could work (if you ignored the 100 km diversion and over-night stay).  At that time I knew very little about her except that I remembered Zoe Gilby mentioning once or twice during gigs with her husband Andy Champion that Jordan had been an important inspiration in encouraging them to perform as a vocal/bass duo and that she was a pioneer of this format. As a fan of the Gilby/Champion performances, I felt this gig was worth making an effort to get to.
Fortunately, the Cantina Bentivoglio in Bologna turned out to be the business. It had the look of an Italian, pre-makeover Ronnie's - low ceilings, crowded and atmospheric with tables right up to the stage - with the same delightfully chaotic meal service. However, unlike Ronnie's in those days, the food was delicious.
The loquacious MC/owner was certainly passionate, as he spoke with great enthusiasm during his 20-minute introduction to the main act. Not understanding Italian, I presumed it was mainly about jazz but I thought I heard mention of Marx and Gramsci as well as Charlie Parker and Jordan.
Anyway, Sheila Jordan was a revelation. She had a band made up of her own American drummer and two excellent Italian musicians on trumpet and bass. Her opening piece was a five-minute introduction of the band members in vocalese, outlining their singular abilities in great detail, as well as including an announcement that she was 86 and a half - wow!
She had great stamina for a youngster and for the next two hours she sang and swang, scatted and vocalised songs and stories in a brilliant fashion. Many of the stories were about Charlie Parker, whose music entranced her as a teenager, and she described as a 14-year old trying to sneak into the club he was playing in wearing her mother's hat as a disguise, only to be quickly thrown out. But then Bird would come to the door and play a solo for her.
All the musicians were great but she did do a couple of duets with the bass player and the highlight of the night was a ten-minute duo version of 'Chasing the Bird' (which Parker is rumoured to have written for her) where she used all her vocal abilities and scatted and vocalised a succession of rip roaring solos. Amazing.
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This experience made me appreciate even more the great jazz there is on offer locally and the fact that there is a top quality vocal and double bass combination on the doorstep. A brief look through BSH's archives revealed that Zoe Gilby and Andy Champion have been performing in this format since 2009 so that now it is (one example) of their finely honed and highly creative musical talents. I arrived at the Jazz Cafe as Gilby was in full scat attack on Monk's Well, You Needn't . Next was one of my favourite songs, Joni Mitchell's beautiful lyrics combined with Mingus's tune and improvisations on Goodbye Pork Pie Hat. The clarity of Gilby's singing of the lyrics with the complex musical line was outstanding and even though I've listened to this track many times there were a couple of lines I didn't recognise, 'Were these in the original lyrics?' I thought to myself and a quick iPhone check revealed that (of course) they were. I just hadn't been listening properly before. The set continued with the spooky Red Right Hand by Nick Cave, their classic take on Pink Floyd's Money and Kate Bush's Kashka From Baghdad where Gilby did an interesting kind of sound box thing with the mike behind her hands.  All through Andy Champion was in sublime form demonstrating his imperious mastery of the double bass.
At the interval a lively crowd arrived in the Cafe, happily not the usual Friday night 'rowdies', but a group of mainly Parisien jazzers who were playing in the Paris-sur-Tyne festival the following day. This inspired the duo to even greater heights (not surprising given that now at least three of the Miles Davis Quintet were present and also possibly Garibaldi). They ripped into another Mitchell piece from her Mingus album The Dry Cleaner From Des Moines at breakneck speed but again with crystal clear lyrics. Then a trip to Graceland, Monk's Rhythm a Ning, followed by a subtly suggestive song found on a social media site called Halfway to Heaven which Gilby said could be about many different things - but isn't. (A bit like saying Kate Bush's Warm Room could be about DIY central heating).
Also a beautiful ballad, which might have been A Weaver of Dreams, and if so, it would have been a nice link to the set list of the 2009 performance. So seven years as a vocal/bass duo - just a few more to match Jordan's longevity. In the mean time, it's a duo combination not to be missed.
The large and attentive audience were highly appreciative of the duo's terrific performance and the international visitors demonstrated their enthusiasm with much applause and (metaphorically speaking) ringing bells, setting off kitchen timers and banging saucepan lids on tables. It was another great night at the Jazz Cafe.
JC.

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