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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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

Thursday, March 31, 2016

ACV @ The Black Swan, Newcastle - March 29

Ollie Dover (reeds); Chris Sharkey (guitar); Matthew Bourne (keyboards); Andy Champion (bass); Joost Hendrickx (drums).
(Review by Steve H/Photo courtesy of Ken Drew)
Tuesday night saw the relaunch of ACV. The only common factor in the new incarnation of the band was Mr AC himself.
At the start of the evening, Andy explained that the music is inspired by world-renowned land sculptor Richard Long. Both the first and second set consisted of a single continuous piece, each able to evoke the feeling of being witness to the construction of a grand organic sculpture. 
The first piece Here and Now and Then was evolved in several different nuanced forms - it ebbed and flowed as layer upon layer of complex soundscapes enticed the listener in. It took a while to really get into what was going on but at a certain ,there was a passage of just a single repetitive electronic note piercing the silence creating a hypnotic effect. Andy Champion then augmented this with some dramatic bowed double bass enhancing the atmosphere further. From here on in, it was all systems go as the band really picked up momentum and blasted their way to an invigorating swashbuckling finale leaving everyone at the interval slightly shell-shocked and awestruck.
The second set began where the first left off with the world premiere of Hours Miles. If anything, this piece was a little bit less fragmented then the previous number and the band really seemed to hit the groove from the start and just kept it going and going. It is perhaps unfair to single anybody out, such was the quality of the entire ensemble, but there was one particular saxophone solo from Ollie Dover which blew me away. To see and hear someone really go with such glorious abandon was both memorable and exciting.
This was certainly a magnificent start to the new ACV era. All members seemed be in such harmony with one another you would have thought the whole band had played together for years. On exiting the Black Swan I joined a couple of people who were discussing the gig; we unanimously agreed what a great night it was although hard to categorise. Independently two of us came up with a single word description which perfectly summed up the evening – Exhilarating!
Steve.

2 comments :

Paul Bream said...

Exhilarating is absolutely the right word, although I could add plenty of others, such as 'magnificent' and 'stunning'.
The first incarnation of ACV was a tremendous band playing some great tunes, but this gig with the new line-up marked a huge step forward, with the long-form pieces - composed and improvised sections sliding seamlessly into each other - demonstrating just how deeply Andy has thought about his music and how the structural skills in his writing have progressed. But he hasn't abandoned his past - the "invigorating swashbuckling finale" to the first set was in fact the theme from 'A Line Made By Walking', the opening track from the first ACV album, so there is real continuity in there as well.
Of course it's complex music (although handled with relaxed panache by the A-list team Andy has now assembled), and Steve is right in his review to say that it took a while for the audience to "get into" what was happening, but the best art doesn't throw up obvious signposts and never fully reveals itself at first acquaintance. So I really look forward to hearing this again . . . by which time I would expect it to be vaguely familiar yet gloriously fresh!

Richard Waddington said...

Great night, thoroughly enjoyed. Loved the first line-up too.

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