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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: 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

Saturday, April 02, 2016

Soundbone @ The Jazz Café. April 1

Chris Grieve (trombone & electronics), Graeme Stephen (guitar & loops) & David Carnegie (drums)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
A fleet of trucks, three executive tour buses and a road crew working around the clock to ensure the show would start on time. The band arrived by executive helicopter, a limo on the tarmac to whisk them to the venue. Fans queued around the block, stage door security tight, this promised to be some gig.
And so it was…autumn 1972, Newcastle City Hall, Led Zeppelin. Black Dog, Dazed and Confused, Whole Lotta Love. Fast forward to spring 2016, Zeppelin were in town again at the Jazz Café. This time the boys arrived by car, carried their gear upstairs, soundchecked then went for a pint. Grieve, Stephen and Carnegie are Soundbone.  Soundbone plays Led Zep is the gig. Three jazz musicians playing heavy rock, an unlikely prospect, potentially a horror show. No fear of that. Black Dog, the first tune of the night and, perhaps, the best of the night. Grieve, Stephen and Carnegie are top flight players and this ‘project’ is a fun occasion revisiting the back catalogue of the behemoth that was Led Zeppelin. Zillions of watts condensed; processed via a twenty-first century box of tricks on the floor, the music of Soundbone is a rearrangement of familiar riffs. Drummer David Carnegie, once of this parish, did John Bonham proud on a monstrous Moby Dick. DC arranged Misty Mountain Hop and the trio closed the first set with a sprawling Communication Breakdown.
The trombone, electronics and vocals of unlikely front man Chris Grieve provided a jazz and rock audience – the Led Zep tag an attraction for some – a focal point. Solos, such as they were, traded with the undemonstrative Graeme Stephen. The seated guitarist played another blinder. Seen and heard in various combos – NeWt, Breach and Celtic outfits – a more self-effacing musician you couldn’t wish to meet. This Soundbone gig found him in tremendous form; improviser, rhythm meister, rocking out. Immigrant Song, Heartbreaker, the West Coast hippie trailblazer Going to California, the audience knew them all. Chris Grieve detached his clip mic to vocally devour Living Loving Maid (She’s Just a Woman) to end a marvellous evening. The missing Zeppelin fans would have got this – heavy rock reworked (Zeppelin were a blues band in essence), the tunes largely intact, so, what’s not to like? The Soundbone boys are busy people. Their Led Zeppelin set is an oh so rare gig, so, the next time they’re in town, be there.           
Russell.

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