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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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 09, 2016

The Safe Sextet @ The Jazz Café - March 8


Don Forbes (tpt); Paul Gowland (alt/ten); John Rowland (ten); Alan Law (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Paul Wight (dms).
(Review by Lance).
A tribute to north-east legends the Emcee 5, with a nod towards Stan Tracey's Under Milkwood, made this a most satisfying session. Particularly for someone such as myself who remembers hearing the Emcee 5 at the Down Beat club in Carliol Square back in the mists of time.
Don Forbes transcribed the numbers from disc and from memory. He did a grand job of recapturing the feel of the originals. The Emcee 5 compositions, mainly by Mike Carr and Gary Cox, had an identifiable sound and, although there were now six, that sound was still there.
Three Mike Carr pieces: The Bridge; Down Beat After Dark and The One That Got Away set the pace. Tight ensembles and excellent solos passed around the seated players (only Grainger, on bass, remained standing although Rowland did stand up for his solos). It didn't matter.
Unlike so many sessions these days, every number didn't end up with the seemingly endless, and often meaningless, rounds of fours.
Pen Pals and I Lost my Step in Nantucket (knockout Alan Law) brought Under Milkwood into the equation and they did Stan Tracey proud. Dobson's Choice, named after local author and jazz fan, Scott Dobson (Larn Yersel Geordie), brought the first set to a close.
The second innings began with a Stan Tracey bouncer - No Good Boyo (I think) and a balladic piece that had both tenors tugging at the heartstrings.
More Emcee 5 with Bell's Blues, a piece from the latter days of the group that, now, featured Gary Cox on tenor, Mike Carr on organ, Jacky Denton on drums and John McLaughlin on guitar. Tonight it was trumpet and two tenors out front and the 3/4 Scottish flavoured opus swung like Sauchiehall St on New Year's Eve.
Groovin' at the Down Beat featured Paul Wight, Stephenson's Rocket had some keyboard capers from Alan Law and John O' Groats brought the set to a close except it didn't. A jam on There Will Never be Another You almost did until the word got around that it was my birthday the next day and the inevitable Happy Birthday to You followed. Thanks, guys, you made an old man feel even older!
Still it had been a good session. Don Forbes' transcriptions accurate and his trumpet playing very much in the Ian Carr mode. Gowland and Rowland, effective, albeit with contrasting styles. Laws, Grainger and Wight - solid.
The only downside was the poor attendance - they deserved a full house.
Lance.

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