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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Tweed River Jazz Band @ Maguire's, Berwick upon Tweed - July 17.

(Review/photo by Peter Ninnim.)
As Brenda and I were in Berwick we were pleased to hear from Brian Martin, of the Music Gallery, that The Tweed River Jazz Band was playing at Maguire’s Bar which is set in nearby Ord Country Park.
Maguire’s is a large venue, with a cross section of ages listening and dancing. Nice to see children being exposed to live music, and jazz at that.
The Tweed River played an interesting programme, and as I do not pretend to be a New Orleans fan, I was delighted to find myself enjoying this so much. There are no weak links in the band despite the unusual instrumentation viz 81-year-old Peter Roughead on trumpet, tenor Sax and vocals; John Faragher on clarinet, Lucy Cowan on violin, Ruth Alder Bateman on piano and vocals, Brian Martin on Banjo, Brian Smith on double bass and Les Turnbull on grums. It worked well. I was a bit nonplussed about the violin but I was so wrong! What a player! I thought that I could hear a wee bit of a folk influence or maybe some gypsy jazz, whatever, the lovely melodic lines that she played worked well.
Arriving, midway through the first set, the audience were already warmed up and calling out requests. Sweet Lorraine; I Want a Little Girl… This Love of Mine closed the first half and I had a chance to chat with Peter Roughead. He tells me that the band plays for their own enjoyment and for charity; they have raised £34,000 for the British Heart Foundation in the years since it was formed in 1985. He also told me about the man who came up to him in the interval a few weeks ago and said that he wanted to give £1000.00 for their collection. Peter told him to go away and think about it but sure enough the chap came back and that night’s collection went up by £1000.00; a big feature in the Berwick Advertiser followed. Peter spent years travelling backwards and forwards to New Orleans listening and playing with the city’s musicians. In 1988 he was made a Freeman of New Orleans. This dedication is overwhelmingly clear in his playing, clear incisive lead trumpet straight out of the Big Easy.
 The second set kicked off with Georgia on my Mind, and other highlights were High Society, Baby Face and a really nice song that was new to me - Louisiana Fairy-tale. Many of these tunes featured vocals either by Peter or by Ruth but it was hard to keep up as the hall was full and the audience making lots of happy noise! However the highlight of the set for me - and maybe everyone - was His Eye is on the Sparrow. A gospel song forever associated with Ethel Waters. Ruth sang unaccompanied through the first verse and then a long pause, audience now very quiet, until the band, guided in by the boss, made this a stunning performance.
Baby Won’t You Please Come Home When the Saints go Marching in and then, almost as an afterthought, a very enthusiastically played Ice Cream! Have no idea where/when I last heard that! What a great ending. Looking forward to seeing them again.
Brenda and I had a really happy night listening to a great band!
Peter Ninnim
PS They play somewhere every Sunday! Next week Beadnell.

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