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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

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. 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: 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, April 13, 2016

Mark Williams Trio @ The Jazz Café. April 12

Mark Williams (guitar), Paul Susans (bass) & Russ Morgan (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley)
At dusk a mid-November mist descended over Newcastle. As it is the month of April the unseasonal gloom perhaps persuaded some to stay indoors. The streets quiet, the pubs no different, down on Pink Lane the Jazz Café’s doors defiantly remained open for business.
Half an hour before the first set was due to start three amigos sat at the bar; Geordie Jazz (the house bottled beer), a cider and a glass of wine in front of them. The ‘three’, the trio of Mark Williams, Paul Susans and Russ Morgan, were ready and waiting. Patience is a virtue and in due course the Caff filled up nicely and the boys made a start.

Guitarist Mark Williams wouldn’t be out of place leading a band at Ronnie Scott’s or one of the Big Apple’s premier jazz clubs such as the Blue Note or the Village Vanguard. The fact that the amiable Irishman chooses to ply his trade on Tyneside is one of the glories of the Geordie jazz scene. The set list comprised now familiar original tunes and one or two new numbers. Totally in command of his instrument, his current band mates Paul Susans and Russ Morgan are, perhaps, the ideal musicians to take the music to a wider audience. Dark, brooding, prowling riffs, Williams revelled in constantly shifting time signatures, a book of chords labelled ‘advanced’ and working with two similarly talented musicians.
Weird Waltz is a dystopian lullaby; lyrical, threatening, briefly swing time. Slow, slow, breaks off, go! Williams is a man of few words preferring to let his guitar do the talking. Self deprecation suits the Irishman: It’s just a blues said Williams of Booze Blues. Just a blues? And the rest! The arrival on the scene of Russ Morgan has been a real bonus. The thought occurred that he is the drummer for this band. Word of mouth, checkout Morgan and the gig was his. Scintillating playing from all three men. Last Bus to Bensham (Colin Dexter would approve of the title!) was one of Williams’ tunes. Is it really titled Last Bus to Bensham? Probably.
The ‘Tuesday Live at the Jazz Café’ audience really dug it. From the off everyone sat or stood at the bar listening intently. Bassist Susans has worked with Williams for years and it shows – total trust, freedom to express. Swing, blues, cranked-up riffs, leftfield waltz, a free-jazz element, a listener’s gig. List your favourite musicians. Williams isn’t on it? In that case, you haven’t heard him play.                           Russell

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