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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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

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

Monday, September 19, 2016

Hailey Tuck w. Strictly Smokin' Big Band @ Hoochie Coochie - September 18


Hailey Tuck (vocal); Rick Simpson (piano); Chris Maddock (tenor) + Strictly Smokin' Big Band.*
(Review by Lance).
You wait for ages then two come along at once! No, I'm not talking about buses, I'm talking gigs.
I'd marked Friday's Nigel Price Trio session down as my gig of the year then, what happens?  SSBB roll up at Hootchie and, not only do they have Alice Grace as band singer but they also bring in Parisian based American singer Hailey Tuck!
Hailey, by the way, brought in Rick Simpson on keys and Chris Maddock on tenor who also did the majority of her vocal arrangements.
Alice opened the batting with Sway; Time After Time; Somebody Loves me (everybody does babe!); Alright OK You Win; You Make me Feel so Young. Alice looked good and sounded even better if that were possible!
Time to meet Ms. Tuck.
Fascinating Rhythm (complete with verse); Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea; Stardust with just (JUST!) the rhythm section; So in Love; Daydream; Let's Do It; Don't Think Twice and After You've Gone.
La Tuck transcends the eras, her rich well-rounded contralto au fait with any idiom
The comparison between the vocalists was interesting, and neither lost out. To simplify, Alice is post-bop and Hailey is pre-bop.  And yet, although Hailey acted, danced, dressed sang like a flapper, her material also encompassed Bob Dylan and the Jackson 5!
However, this wasn't a Savoy Ballroom cutting contest - just two superb singers doing their own thing which, occasionally, overlapped and made me think that maybe they could have done a girlie duet!
Hailey, after pausing to chat with the audience and have a couple of pics taken, returned for the third set and we had All the Things You Are; My Heart Belongs to Daddy; When It's Sleepytime Down South (with a rare solo by Rangecroft); No Moon at All (with Rick Simpson and Chris Maddock); All I Do is Think of You and Sunday Morning (a Tuck original). There was more but, not being in our usual comfort zone, making notes was difficult. This didn't detract from the music!
The band, as we've come to expect, were well up to the task and most of the usual suspects got in with solos.
Rick Simpson, originally from Guisborough, I'd last heard him accompanying Sarah Ellen Hughes (whatever became of?), and he proved to be equally adept with Hailey comping and soloing to great effect. Rick also chipped in with a couple of arrangements although the majority were by Maddock who also blew some good tenor
An Australian visitor remarked, "A superb big band and two great singers, I'd expect to pay £100 for this!" He's right but please don't tell Warren!
Photos. 
Lance.
* Strictly Smokin’ Big Band: MD Michael Lamb, Pete Tanton, Gordon Marshall, Dick Stacey (trumpets); Kieran Parnaby, Mark Ferris, Robert ‘Pez’ Perry, Mr John Flood (trombones); Laurie Rangecroft (baritone saxophone); Paul Gowland (tenor & soprano saxophones), Jamie Toms  (tenor saxophone), Steve Summers (alto & soprano saxophones, clarinet, flute), Keith Robinson (alto saxophone, flute, clarinet); Graham Don (piano), Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar), Michael Whent (bass), Guy Swinton (drums); Alice Grace (vocals). 

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

A fabulous gig - one of the best so far! And a great introduction to Hailey for us ..... btw, the Sunday Morning song is by Maroon 5 - from their first album.

Lance said...

I stand corrected - it was rather noisy at times!

Anonymous said...

Yep - Hailey introduced the song by saying that one of the band's guitarists was dating her sister at the time - and she got to know them well! Think she added that Chris had re-arranged the number for her .....

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