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Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, 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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Thu 10: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Soloists, Orchestras & Hot Fives.
Thu 10: Side Café Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 11: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00. A Bishop Auckland Jazz promotion. New venue (second Friday in the month)!
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Beehive, Earsdon NE25 0SZ. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Fiona Finden Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewery, North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Willington Town Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Market Place, Spennymoor, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 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

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

CD Review: Graeme Wilson Quartet – Sure Will Hold a Boat

Graeme Wilson (tenor saxophone), Paul Edis (piano), Andy Champion (double bass) & Adam Sinclair (drums)
(Review by Russell)
Graeme Wilson made his home on Tyneside for several years during which time he made a considerable impact on the local music scene. A founding member of GIO – the hugely influential Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra – Wilson’s involvement in numerous regional projects has left a lasting legacy. First heard as accompanist to vocalist Ruth Lambert, an array of key jobs soon came his way; the tenor chair in Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra (composing and arranging for the band and John Warren’s group), an original member of the superb saxophone quartet Saxophonics, gigging and recording with Andy Champion’s ACV and running his own band. His band – the Graeme Wilson Quartet – continues to perform and record. Sure Will Hold a Boat is Wilson’s latest CD and it’s a gem.
Wilson’s tenor playing is never less than commanding. A cast iron technique and mature tone mark out the Scot’s sound from most other tenor players. Searchlight Nevada opens the album. A tale – a fanciful tale? – about John Coltrane getting lost in the desert rips it up. The leader’s band mates are first call musicians. Pianist Paul Edis wears many hats – composer/arranger, big band MD, educator, recording artist. Bassist Andy Champion can be said to have a similar, busy schedule and drummer Adam Sinclair finds time to play in a number of bands when he isn’t in the studio working as a successful engineer/producer.  
Stellar playing from all concerned, the standard set, it’s as good as this throughout.
Nine tracks, all composed by Wilson, were recorded in the Reid Concert Hall, Edinburgh in May 2015. Some of the tunes will be familiar to gig-goers in the north east and further afield. The Sycamore and The New Wallaw were vehicles for Voice of the North (an Arts Council-funded outfit and the brainchild of Adrian Tilbrook). The compositions emerged from a Rednile project based around a closed, decaying cinema in once prosperous Blyth, a south east Northumberland town servicing the northern coalfields. The Sycamore refers to a tree taking root in the crumbling brickwork of the Art Deco building. The companion piece – The New Wallaw – bristles with optimism. Little did Wilson know that a well-known pub chain, noted for renovating and reviving some of the more interesting buildings on our high streets, would rescue the building!
Five Floors Up closes the album. Repeated listening has elevated this tune to the top of a long list of favourites. Taken at a leisurely tempo, the tenor playing is masterful, as is the piano playing. Bass and drums (Sinclair’s brushes) take it out to the accompaniment of a whistling Wilson.     
Sure Will Hold a Boat should be on any jazz fan’s ‘must have’ list of CDs. In a star rating system of 1-5 Sure Will Hold a Boat scores 6. Graeme Wilson Quartet Sure Will Hold a Boat (GBWQ002) is available now. Visit: www.graemebwilson.co.uk 
Principal CD credits: Adam Sinclair engineer, Kevin Hay assistant engineer.
Adam Sinclair mixing and mastering, Cath Reay cover photography, Lindsay Duncanson band photography.
Russell
The Graeme Wilson Quartet’s next gig on Thursday 31 March at the Davenham Theatre, Nantwich, Cheshire starts at 8:00pm. Highly recommended. Take home a CD. 

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