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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

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: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ 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: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. 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

Saturday, March 19, 2016

The Lindsay Hannon Plus @ The Jazz Café. March 18

Lindsay Hannon (vocals), Alan Law (keyboards), John Pope (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Mike Tilley.)
I am Lindsay Hannon and these are ‘the Plus’ said vocalist Hannon, pointing to the boys in the band. A good Friday night crowd turned out to hear Hannon sing a selection of the standard jazz repertoire and a few leftfield choices. The bar did good business, albeit via regular trips to the downstairs bar. Hold the front page! Ms Hannon appeared to be in an alcohol-free state of mind…the pint glass at hand appeared to contain nothing other than water.
Joni’s Hissing of Summer Lawns to Tom Waits by way of Fats Waller and a bluesy Monk the Jazz Café crowd were there to listen. Hannon’s trio hit the heights from the off. Piano player of choice to many, Alan Law always plays the notes in the right order; a blue note master, the right phrase at the right time, every time. JP, bassist John Pope sounded better than ever (matching haircut) and drummer Russ Morgan has established himself as one of the region’s ‘first call’ musicians. Hannon’s vocal range and ready invention succeeds in keeping the listener guessing. Whichever way she chooses to take a tune it works out. An A-list trio behind her on this gig allowed Hannon to take off in unexpected directions and the boys were right there, every step of the way.  
No More Blues with its slurred vocal phrasing, Law’s lazy, funk groove reworking of a St Louis Blues that you’re unlikely to hear in banjo territory down Cullercoats way and Miss Otis Regrets (JP’s arco intro) a late-night treat, Hannon scored A+ (as in ‘Plus’). The Jazz Café’s Thursday night crowd heard drummer Paul Smith in top form with a party piece of a solo. Twenty-four hours on Russ Morgan matched Smith’s Herculean effort. Brushes in hand, what a solo on a Hannon staple, Nature Boy! A class singer, a class rhythm section, an ace of a gig.
Russell.

1 comment :

Patti said...

This gig was a real treat - from start to finish - and I got special pleasure hearing the lovely cover of Cole Porter's Miss Otis Regrets. A wonderful song, recorded by Ethel Waters, Ella, Nat King Cole and Nancy Wilson, among others - even Kirsty McColl and the Pogues have covered it!

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