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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 09, 2016

Emma Fisk & James Birkett @ The Jazz Café - July 8.

Emma Fisk (vln); James Birkett (gtr).
(Review by Lance).
A violin/guitar duo in The Caff on a Friday night had me wondering if they'd be able to compete with the Friday night ravers - a body not noted for taking vows of silence. However, this was a tribute to the timeless music of Joe Venuti and Eddie Lang who, I'm sure, had noisier audiences to deal with back in the days of prohibition in the speakeasies of Chicago and New York.
As it happened, until The Caff's bathtub gin kicked in, the audience were respectful and only made with the decibels when it mattered i.e. loud and prolonged applause at the end of each number.
Make no mistake, this was a gig that mattered. Truly outstanding performances by two top draw instrumentalists totally au fait with the music they were recreating. 
Emma Fisk swings like few violinists do whilst Jim Birkett (I can't get used to calling him James) can cover just about any style from Lang to Metheny via Django and Christian. Together, it was a musical marriage made in Pink Lane.
The repertoire was the familiar, the not so familiar and occasionally the unknown.
The opener, Pardon me Pretty Baby, set the benchmark which was pretty high and, as the evening progressed, just got higher and higher!
Cheese and Crackers; Summertime; I Can't Give You Anything But Love; I Found a New Baby; Hiawatha's Lullaby; Sunday; Dinah; Georgia on my Mind and Raggin' the Scale.
Halftime and France v Portugal will have to score ten goals each to match this!
My Honey's Lovin' Arms; I'm Confessin' Blue Bottom; Someone to Watch Over me; It Had to be You; Kickin' the Cat; It's Only a Paper Moon; Sunshine and Autumn Leaves brought my evening to a close - Metro beckoned. I say 'brought my evening to a close' but it didn't. The songs, the fiddling, the guitar chords were in my head and I was oblivious to the Friday night mayhem around me. I now know what it's like to live in a parallel universe!
Photos.
Lance.

1 comment :

Lance said...

After this inspiring session I dug out my old Venuti CDs (I've got a couple of 78s too but that would really have been gravedigging!) My thoughts; Firstly, Venuti and Lang were jazz innovators who gave identity to instruments that were still outside of the jazz parameters that history relegated them to and secondly, Fisk and Birkett have carried that flame into the present century without the help of bass sax and piano! I think my Venuti disc is probably deleted which suggests the time is ripe for a Fisk/Birkett Blue Two disc!

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