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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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

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.
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.

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

Monday, April 25, 2016

Darlington Jazz Festival: Matt Roberts Sextet plays the music of Nat Adderley. April 22


Matt Roberts (trumpet), George Grant (alto saxophone), Leo Richardson (tenor saxophone), Sam Watts (piano), Simon Read (double bass) & Dave Ingamells (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Shaune Eland.)
Darlington’s Matt Roberts returned from his London base to make his now customary big contribution to the Darlington Jazz Festival. This year’s event, the fifth, featured a superb sextet assembled by the amiable trumpeter. The Leeds College of Music graduate made a few calls – some of them to fellow LCoM alumni – and the band that turned up on Friday evening at the Voodoo Café played a gig that will forever live in the memory.
Last year Matt Roberts played the music of Fats Navarro, this year, Nat Adderley. Six of the best musicians to be found anywhere on the British jazz scene were at it from the down beat. Tenor man Leo Richardson tore the place apart on the opener Movin’. The crowd – a standing room only affair – whooped and hollered. Every solo, all night long, cheered to the rafters. 52nd Street is but in the imagination for most, this gig at the Voodoo Café on Skinnergate surely captured something of how it was back then.
Altoist George Grant, teased by Roberts for being in semi-retirement at thirty-something (in reality a heavy teaching commitment restricting his gigging opportunities), did just as Richardson did – he tore the place apart. Then there was Roberts, he did the same thing.
Blue Brass Groove, Little Joanie Walks (slow burning alto, walking talking bass playing by Simon Read) and a New Orleans’ marching groove with Richardson’s incendiary solo on The Popeye. Pianist Sam Watts played another blinder here at the festival. Drummer Dave Ingamells drove the band a lá Art Blakey, generating such levels of excitement that some of the more senior members of the audience were, perhaps, in danger of a cardiac arrest! Sister Caroline, Stoney Island and Bohemia After Dark maintained the momentum across two sets. More? Dizzy’s Business, Fun, Games, tune after tune. Of course the Matt Roberts Sextet finished with Work Song. Perfect.
All seats taken, any number stood at the back and down the sides of the room with a pint in hand A noticeable feature of the Darlington Jazz Festival is the level of support shown by other musicians and this gig on Skinnergate was no different. The gig was staffed by a group of young volunteers. Musicians themselves, they ran the show and did a great job. One day some of them will follow in the footsteps of Matt Roberts. Easy going, obliging, Roberts is a cracking trumpet player. Gig of the year? You bet! Next year, Matt Roberts plays the music of…
Russell.          

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