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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, April 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

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, May 09, 2016

Roy Ayers preview Sage 2 Thursday May 12.













(Review by Steve T)
Promised a short review of this but then realised Mr. Ayers and I go back; back almost to the beginning; that's my beginning, not his.
It was 1977 and my brother brought in a 7" single - Running Away. Is it disco? Soul? Funk? Apparently it's Jazz Funk, like Benson, Hubert Laws and Idris Muhammed which had been infiltrating the more forward thinking end of the Northern Soul scene - ie Blackpool Mecca - for a couple of years and would orchestrate a complete split from stompy old Wigan Casino the following year.
Roy Ayers consolidated his position on the newly liberated Jazz Funk scene with a couple more dancefloor hits: Get On Up, Get On Down and Can't You See Me? the latter providing the soundtrack for a certain Durham Restaurant owner, who had adopted the Roy Ayers look of the time - tan suit and Panama – and, along with a friend, stripped down to their umbrellas at the Coach and Eight in Durham, which is probably too much information for anyone who's figured out who he is.
When Jazz Funk imploded shortly after (some would say it never amounted to anything and for a long time I would have agreed) I moved on to bigger and better things but was reminded of Roy Ayers when visionary DJ Colin Curtis played his version of For Real on pirate radio at a Soul Weekender in Fleetwood in the late eighties, mixing - or perhaps I should say exploding - into the original by Flowers, a monster track on the rare soul scene, at the time fetching £100 for a poor 7" edit and I'm told you can now name your price.
Nowadays, promoters sometimes prime acts to play tracks they've sometimes forgotten so we may get For Real, but hopefully we won't get Poo Poo La La which is where he wants to kiss you baby.
I've just missed him loads of times, including when he played Hoochie Coochie last year, which clashed with Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham at the Sage, legendary but ultimately over-rated soul songwriters, but I plumped for Fun Lovin Criminals, probably a mistake but Durham Gala is just so much more convenient for me.
I've decided to see him this year because he's almost 75 and because I'm a huge admirer of local vibes monster Chris Jelly from King Bee, who rates Roy, as you can imagine and I know it's mutual. King Bee are in fact supporting Roy Ayers and Lonnie Liston Smith (due at Hoochie soon) in Kent later in the month.
When Chris played the Empty Shop in Durham with the Steve Glendenning Quartet we were all completely mesmerised; even Carlo who normally bobs in and out sat transfixed throughout. At the interval he did a repair job with plasters patching up his hands and must factor in that he will destroy his hands whenever he performs, requiring a period of healing, and presumably Roy has been through the same thing. They should be given the freedom of the city, every city, town, village and hamlet, alongside the Queen, the President, the Pope and the Few.
There's still a few tickets available for Thursday night and Roy Ayers deserves it. So if you like Jazz, Jazz Funk, Funk, Soul or (pre Bee Gees/ Donna Summer) disco you should give it a go.
Steve T.

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