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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

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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