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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

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, July 16, 2016

Early Bird Band & Gala Big Band @ St. Cuthbert's Crook - July 15.

Early Bird Band: Paul Edis (flute/alto MD); Ben Lawrence (trumpet); Francis D Tulip (guitar); Dr. Phil (piano); Dan Lawrence (bass); Matthew Mackellar (drums).
(Review by Steve T/Photos courtesy of Allison Fenton).
This must have been the toughest choice in North East Jazz since I became an observer, with potentially brilliant nights at the Globe, Hoochie and in Darlo, so I was fortunate the decision was made for me.
The Early Birds played an almost identical set to the one at the other St Cuthbert's in Shadforth last week, with added Blue Bossa, but Crook found the hard-core Early Birds, the ones who turn up every time, possibly the best I've ever heard them.
Ben found himself bereft of any support in the horns department with just Paul - just Paul! - but rose to the challenge magnificently, playing probably the best I've ever heard him, and quoting Clifford Brown's Joy Spring along the way.
Brother Dan, with the guitarists now standing, has to wear shoes but seems even more into it than ever. Dr Phil now sounding like he's been with the band from the start, totally unselfish, giving Francis as much space as he needs and adding some blues and some Monk.
Francis, at one point playing through a flanger, just to illustrate he can do Metheny as well as Benson and McLaughlin, playing his own compositions like they're - well - his own compositions. And surely Whiplash Mackellar has now taken his place amongst the array of outstanding drummers we're blessed with in the North East.
Paul, still on a flute kick, is getting more ambitious with his flurries and soloing during Hubbard’s Little Sunflowerwhich seems to have become a band favourite, descending once again into A Love Supremesome in the band and the hall singing along.  
As this version of the Early Birds prepares to disband there was euphoria amongst the parents and a newfound willingness to dare to admit how good they've become, but perhaps tinged with a little, resigned, sadness that a chapter in the band’s history is about to close .  
The setup, with a couple of dozen musicians in this tiny hall, resembled Earth, Wind and Fire - the most successful black band ever - crammed into Glasgow’s 02 Academy a couple of weeks back. Crook gives me the added attraction of home advantage and a couple of bottles of Workie Ticket during the interval, while Lord Edis and his team worked their magic like seasoned supergroup roadies.
Gala Big Band: Paul Edis (alto/ MD); Dave, Liz, Anthony, Jonathan, Tom (trumpets); Bob, Francesca, Steve, Peter, Lindsay saxes); Chris, Gareth, Thomas, Steve (trombones); Francis D. Tulip (guitar); Ben Lawrence (piano); Owen (bass); Alex (drums);  Alan (percussion); Johnny (vocal).
Voilà, and another band he's transformed beyond recognition over a similar time frame. This is a community band of local (to Durham) people of a wide variety of ages and mixed ability who come together every other Tuesday to play potentially anything in a big band stylee. As, when he plays solo piano, Paul recognises you've got to keep it interesting and has a real knack for picking stuff to carry the casual listener and the Jazz cognoscenti and all points between.
Something from Basie featuring one of the stars of the band, trumpeter Liz, followed by Bare Necessities featuring another, Ben Lawrence now debuting on piano.
Before the first of two Glenn Miller tracks, Paul acknowledged that some people have a problem with him and, while I'm probably one of them, I also recognise they're 'tunes' that people know and are the Beatles or Adele for an older generation.
Then Paul took the lead on Summertime himself, perhaps in recognition that it deserves something a little more 'serious.'
Just in case the casual listener still didn't feel catered for he brought on singer Johnny (not from the Godfather) for the first of two SinAtra classics, I've Got You Under My Skin followed later by Come Fly with Me.
Tom Jones once said 'what Frank wants Frank gets' and he wanted Nelson Riddle and a big band of world class musicians. Somebody once said to me Skin should be the yardstick for every big band performance and, if so, this group of enthusiastic amateurs did not do half bad at all, with Chris taking on the famous trombone attack like a trouper.
Incidentally, a box set of his Capital years has gone from a silly price at one end of the scale to a silly price at the other; twelve CDs for about as many quid and, for anybody who takes notice of the mass media obsession with the Beatles and/or Adele, this is the real Holy Grail of pop music. But if twelve CDs of SinAtra seems excessive, Songs for Swinging Lovers (featuring Skin) is the masterpiece.
Back to the gig and, would you believe Phil Collins? Against all Odds further illustrated the open-mindedness of the band, their leader and audience and is new to me and clearly a work in progress.
The set ended with perennial Lord Paul original Mikey’s Samba (named after a Micra - what else?) which gave the longest and best solo of the set to FDT, a barrage of drums and percussion behind him, courtesy Alex and Alan respectively, during his swansong as a permanent member of the band.   
Event organiser and mother to Lady Kate, Anne Timothy (The Timothys being another Edis favourite) thanked everybody, but particularly her son-in-law for everything he's done for St Cuthberts and North East Jazz. And so say all of us.
Steve T.

3 comments :

Steven T. said...

Apparently my use of capital A in the middle of SinAtra has caused a little confusion, which is an improvement since I often cause a lot of confusion.
A while back I bumped into someone I used to work with in the eighties when he was much younger than me but didn't remember him at first.
What he remembered me for most was my pronunciation of SinAtra, with added emphasis on the second syllable and the 'a' sound rather than the more common 'ar' sound, and I told him I still do but now write it with a capital A as well.
As my memory of him returned I recalled him walking round the office repeating SinAtra with a big grin on his face.

Lance said...

Ah Steve, as it happens, my late buddy Jim McDowell used the same pronunciation. I wonder, is Nancy a Sinat or a Sinart? I remember, years ago, talking to a London secretary bird - or should it be broad? - and saying 'Hi, it's Lance here, we spoke yesterday.' A few moments silence before she said. 'Launce! Hello Launce.!

Steven T. said...

She's definitely Sinartra; the coolest white man of the last century, there's only one SinAtra.

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