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Bebop Spoken There

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Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Ingrid Jensen Quartet @ The Black Swan May 26












Ingrid Jensen (trumpet); Jez Franks (guitar); Andy Champion (bass); Tim Giles (drums)
(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew (right and Mike Tilley left)
This spectacular gig was another in the ‘Women Makes Music’ series and came to fruition as a result of 2 years’ worth of planning by NorVol (the network of Northern jazz promoters). Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? The internationally renowned bandleader Ingrid Jensen teamed up with Londoners Jez Franks and Tim Giles and completing the quartet was Tyneside’s very own Andy Champion. Jensen flew in on Monday and the band had been rehearsing in the Jazz Café since Tuesday.  Thursday night was, therefore, the world premiere of this outfit which now embarks on a short Northern tour before finishing up with a gig at Ronnie Scott’s.
From the first note to the last, one can only describe the music emanating from the stage as pure class. Two superb sets separated by Jazz North East’s legendary raffle which Paul Bream introduces with a level of jocularity that Ronnie Scott would have been proud of.   The compositions from Ingrid Jenson were interspersed with interpretations of standards and other great composers including fellow Canadian trumpet player the late great Kenny Wheeler. There were also tunes from Ingrid’s younger saxophonist sister Christine and also one from guitarist Franks. The content of performance was wonderfully varied - slow, fast, free, melodious, quiet, loud, fierce and peaceful passages integrated throughout the evening.  Each member of the band excelled both individually and as part of the ensemble.  Franks and Giles I hadn’t heard before and I was suitably impressed. Andy Champion we already know is a superb bassist and Ingrid Jensen is simply a world class performer. The impressively sized audience loved every minute and at the end of the final number applauded vociferously and were rewarded with a masterful encore.
Ken Drew Photos.
Steve H.

2 comments :

Pam Young (on f/b) said...

Totally agree Steve this was a top class gig

Steven Tulip said...

Spare a thought for no. 1 son; his long-suffering girlfriends 18th birthday is kicking off at the 02 Academy and his guitar tutor for the next 4 years is playing the Swan. You couldn't make it up (unless of course you're Rowan Atkinson or Dawn French).
He was expecting a masterclass from Jez Franks and got one. Like Pat Metheny he's an all-rounder, a great follower with great technique, precision legato and never misses or plays a duff note. He 'beasted' it up during the first set and the chap on the next table was lost in the zone.
AC - nuff said.
Tim Giles played the Lifecycles at the Sage at the Festival so the 3 Jamboners there already knew him. He keeps time in his sleep and when awake he does all the other stuff as well, and what a nice, friendly lad too.
Ingrid Jenson was extremely impressive, both as musician and leader, exuding confidence: giving signals, counting them in, counting them out and openly giving verbal instructions.
Somebody said the band needed at least another horn but, in my view, the guitar bridges the gap between rhythm and trumpet better than a piano and whenever it felt like (ie)a sax should come in she'd change it round with pedals, loops or some fantastically subtle use of the mute.
It's probably lazy to compare every modern trumpet player to Miles but difficult to avoid, such was the scope of output in his long career(and it's possibly lazy to compare guitar and drums to McLaughlin and Williams respectively). We currently seem to be settled somewhere between the final acoustic albums of the Second Great Quintet and the rock stuff before it got ferocious, suggesting it takes about fifty years for the rest of us to catch up, but Ingrid slips effortlessly through what, at the time, was considered one of the most revolutionary changes in Jazz History.
Wheelers 'where do we go from here' could refer to the current state of politics in the US she suggested (and the UK) but, I propose, equally to the music or, as she put it, 'whatever it is we're doing.'
I like to buy an album at the gig, as much to support the artist, and they're always good, but hers is genuinely fantastic.
Since we're all at it, gig of the year so far? Quite possibly, and I didn't see it coming until: Zoe Gilby arrived - no surprise there - but then: Paul Edis, Chris Hibbard, Alice Grace, Johnny Donne, Graham Hardy, Abby Finn, Ros (recently retired from Sage) and aplogies to anyone git important I've missed, but it looked like it might be something special, and it was.

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