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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Lewis Watson Quartet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Latin jazz/top-rated dance bands.
Thu 06: Rose Room @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 06: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Helen Barber (vocals) & Alex Moon (piano).
Thu 06: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guests: Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Donna Hewitt (alto sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session is now monthly, first Thursday in the month.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Old Lowlight, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields NE30 1JE. 7:00pm. £15.00. + bf. www.oldlowlight.co.uk. SOLD OUT!
Fri 07: Stuart Turner Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Jazz, blues, Americana etc.
Fri 07: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 07: Rose Room @ Wylam Institute. 8:00pm. £19.67.
Fri 07: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: 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

Thursday, June 09, 2016

Ian Shaw on The Theory of Joy

(Interview by Russell)
Welsh-born world class vocalist Ian Shaw appears at Sage Gateshead on Wednesday (June 15) singing tunes from his new CD The Theory of Joy. An award-winning man of many talents – composer, singer, pianist, producer – Shaw shares his thoughts on recording, touring and other matters.

Hi Ian, it’s good of you to take time to talk to Bebop Spoken Here.

The Theory of Joy tour calls in at Sage Gateshead next week, Wednesday 15th June. When did you start to put the album together, and were Barry Green, Mick Hutton and David Ohm on board early on?

The Theory of Joy was a gathered set of new arrangements which I gigged and tried out with the trio…so really had a chance to get the right ones forward! The trio is a solid unit...made of friendship and musical trust.
Claire Martin produced the new album. How did Claire’s involvement come about?

Claire was the natural choice. She knows me inside out and we’ve always trusted each other’s ears and taste.

You have worked as a producer. Has the experience proved to be useful with regard to shaping your own subsequent recordings?

I don’t listen to my recordings so not sure if I can effect an objective listening distance. My production work is so much easier as it's someone else’s precious work (and paid!).

You were up here in April to perform at the Gateshead International Jazz Festival.
As always, you went down a storm. You sang My Brother – it was spellbinding stuff.
Were you aware at the time that you had the audience in the palm of your hand?

I loved playing the festival. I often find it easier to be intimate if I’m solo.

Going way back….Lazy Blue Eyes (1990) with Carol Grimes featured gems from the Great American Songbook plus the title track which you wrote. Subsequent releases have drawn on original material and more contemporary popular songs. Therefore,  with a wealth of material to choose from has it become all the more difficult to select songs, and indeed, discard songs? Was this the case with The Theory of Joy

There is always a wealth of other people’s songs…It’s a simple case of you find a great restaurant…is it the Crustacea or the salad bar you breathlessly aim for? I do need to be more prolific…but I have to be 100 percent convinced of my own writing. The idea for an album that had a load of songs that seemed to present hope and happiness but with a darker background appealed to me.
    
You are known for your frequent visits to Calais, helping, as best you can, refugees stranded/abandoned in the so-called ‘Jungle’. Are you optimistic or pessimistic that politicians will suddenly discover a collective humanitarian streak?

I’m optimistic (more cautiously hopeful) that, given the amount of missing kids and vulnerable young families we are seemingly not responsible for, in or out of EU (!!)…surely badgering politicians (we did it alongside Calais Action, a superb politically motivated NGO…) is the only way…we also took France to court over kids in the jungle and sanitation…and won…ish. Freshwater pumps and gravel happened. The Dubs amendment was re-visited a second time…and the motion was yayed. It’s of course, because of scant governmental intervention, taking forever to become a local reality.

Perhaps a ‘Side by Side’ fundraising gig could work here on Tyneside?

A Side by Side fundraiser would be fantastic. Please make a persuasive call! I will too.

Finally, on a lighter note…
   
Do you enjoy being on the road? Looking at your itinerary…Tuesday London, up to Gateshead Wednesday, Hamburg Thursday, Minsk Saturday and York Sunday!            

Being on the road? As the prostitute said…“It’s not the work, it’s the stairs”

Thanks for your time Ian. We’ll see you at Sage Gateshead on the 15th.
Russell.

Ian Shaw and The Theory of Joy Trio play Sage Gateshead on Wednesday 15 June in Sage Two, 8:00pm. To be sure of your seat contact Sage Gateshead’s ticket office on 0191 433 4661.     

      

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