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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.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Fri 18: Alexia Gardner @ Fika Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 7:00pm. Trio (Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy).RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13

Fri 18: Sarah Jane Morris & Tony Remy: The Sisterhood @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. CANCELLED! 7:30pm (doors). £25.00.

Sat 19: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 19: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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.

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

Sunday, August 21, 2016

Claire Kelly with Pete Gilligan @ The Globe: August 20

Claire Kelly (vocals); Pete Gilligan (piano).
(Review by Ann Alex/photo courtesy of Dave Parker).
And the BSH gold medal doesn’t go to Claire Kelly.  Lance will burst into tears when he reads that Claire rounded off her excellent performance with (yes!) Summertime. The audience of 6 or so soon became many, as Claire’s friends and admirers flocked in, so that by the end of the gig it was rather lively with a couple dancing at the front and shouts of encouragement from the audience. Pete had assisted with choosing the set list, so Claire was singing some numbers she’d not sung for a few years but you wouldn’t have guessed. Ms Kelly is soon to return to her current home in Thailand, a shame for us but Thailand’s gain, as she’s up there with the best of our ‘local’ women singers.
Confident, strong-voiced and with stage presence, Claire began with I’ve Got The World On A String; and We’ll Be Together Again, followed by very convincing scatting on Aqua De Beberfor contrast we had Ain’t Nobody’s Business But My Own, very bluesy, sliding up and down the scales and Pete in speakeasy mode, playing as well as we’ve come to expect, and better. Let’s Slip Away was from the singing of Cleo Laine, whom Claire once encountered in a lift; the first half closed with a ballad, A Song For You.
We resumed with Beautiful Love and This Masquerade both well-acted, not just sung, and Masquerade was given an improvised ending before being gently faded out. Then a song about clichés old and new (didn’t catch the title); Pete’s choice of Whisper Not; then I’ve Grown Accustomed To His Face and a Carmen McCrae song called Tip Toe Gently (I think). My Heart Belongs To Daddy was wonderfully sleazy, with strong sleazy-sounding chords from Pete who was obviously thoroughly enjoying himself, especially when he sang the last line for Claire, after making her laugh out loud .A lively West Coast Blues got a rather gospelly ending, to riotous applause, then came Summertime, just as the Metro called me home, so other songs could have followed for all I know.
A good time was had by all. Thank you, Claire, Pete and the Jazz Co-op.
Ann Alex

5 comments :

Liz said...

ha,ha,had a good laugh at"Summertime" Ann...cannot imagine why Lance dislikes it so much, or maybe it's because it is overdone by wannabes!!

Lance said...

I don't dislike 'Summertime'. It's a great song but, as you say, it's been overdone - not just by the 'wannabes' (which Claire has long moved up from) but by every singer - it's almost become their national anthem. I loved the first thousand renditions but after that I wondered why they didn't dip further into the Porgy and Bess songbook?

Ann Alex said...

Lance, Here is a question. Please answer carefully. About these wannabes, are they always singers or do you come across, say, saxophone or drum wannabes, or even banjo wannabes? Just a thought.

Lance said...

Of course Ann! From the moment you sit at the piano or behind the kit or blow your first note or sing the first chorus of 'The Wheels on the bus go round and round' you're a wannabe. How MUCH you want to be is what makes the difference.

Lance said...

The reviewer asked about a song Claire Kelly sang at the Globe last Saturday - it's called New Clichés.
Claire had first heard it on an album by singer Diane Hubka
(The above info was emailed to me by Nathan Allonby)

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