Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 2026)

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

18878 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 742 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 4.) 21.

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

From This Moment On

September.

Fri 11: Esther Bennett @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £10.00. Esther Bennett (vocals); Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass).
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: Ray Stubbs’ R&B All Stars @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £14.09 (inc. bf).

Sat 12: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 12: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £16.26 (inc. bf).

Sun 13: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: King Bees @ Shape Patisserie, Darlington. 3:00pm. Free. Duo (Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor). A Rhythm & Blues Fringe event. Blues excellence.
Sun 13: Alligator Gumbo @ The Cluny. 5:00pm. £17.15.; £11.43; £5.72.
Sun 13: Eternal Triangle + Andy Champion @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 17: Front Porch Blues @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 17: Miles 100 @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. Jack Courtney (trumpet); Sue Ferris (tenor sax); Tom Atkinson (guitar); Alan Law (piano); Deon Krishnan (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums). A night of Miles Davis.
Thu 17: Amphitrio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £7.00. Andrei Petrache (piano); Mike Alex (double bass); Philip Goron (drums).

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Dean Stockdale & Noel Dennis @ The Jazz Café - August 12

Dean Stockdale (pno); Noel Dennis (tpt/flug).
(Review by Lance).
The trumpet/piano duo theme has been around a long time - King Oliver and Jelly Roll Morton: Tom Cat Blues; Louis Armstrong and Earl Hines: Weatherbird Blues were a couple of the early ones. Ruby Braff with Ellis Larkins; Oscar Peterson with Dizzy, Eldridge, Clark Terry, Faddis and Edison followed before Kenny Wheeler and Paul Bley had a musical marriage. There have been others and, tonight we had Dean Stockdale and Noel Dennis continuing the tradition.
Such was their varied approach that any of the aforementioned duos could be said to have had an influence.
It began casually with Solar. Imagine two classy welterweights sussing each other out over the opening rounds. Bobbing and weaving, counterpunching but not yet unleashing the killer blows. Don't Get a Round Much Anymore kept things moving but these guys are boxers, not sluggers. You sense it will go the distance without any black eyes but with plenty blue notes.
A Metheny piece, was it Svolta? Autumn Leaves, Mal Waldren's Soli and to finish the set Blue Monk.
By this time, they'd got the measure of each other and the music flowed. The beauty of duo sets is that it's not just horn/comp/solo etc. but frequently two flowing lines - contrapuntal!
The liquor flowed, the crowd came in and There is No Greater Love had our boys going for it. Love For Sale (an appropriate song given my memories of Pink Lane 50 years ago!) then, a solo by Stockdale which turned out to be The Girl From Ipanema. Appropriate what with it being the Olympics in Rio and, possibly even as he was playing it, Sir Brad and the team pursuit boys were sweeping up gold!
By this time the audience noise had reached such a level that, if they'd been your neighbours you'd have been dialling 911, maybe even 999! As such, it was perhaps self-defeating for Noel to blow Blue on Green tightly muted. Still, for us in the aficionados corner, we were close enough to appreciate the delicate nuances of this version.
Stella By Starlight and then Nostalgia in Times Square (New York) brought a delightful evening to a close and I left to fight my way through the mini skirts on Central Station.
Somebody's got to do it!
Lance.
PS: So who got the decision? Well, Noel got the nod but only because he did the announcements!
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