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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Gregory Porter + Jo Harrop @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm. Support act: Jo Harrop!

Tue 13: ???

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Recital (stage 2): Leah Kirk (voice) @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 3:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Jerron Paxton @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.20. Excellent country blues multi-instrumentalist.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. BACK IN BUSINESS, all welcome!

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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, October 01, 2016

Dave Lyttle Trio @ Jazz Café - September 30












David Lyttle (dms/perc); Tom Harrison (alt); Pete Turner (bs).
(Review by Lance/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley).
The trio played, a slow minimalist number that had the audience thinking that maybe they just had time to catch "Chas and Dave" around the corner at the O2 Academy!
The silence was the loudest ever heard,
Irishman Lyttle explained that Lazy Afternoon was dedicated to the late Louis Stewart, an early mentor of the drummer/leader and we all felt slightly uncomfortable that we hadn't recognised it as such.
RIP Louis.
Things levelled out with Perpetual Smile that could have been retitled Perpetual Alto as Harrison soared like a bird for chorus after chorus building up to a climactic end leaving us all breathless . This was fine alto playing with barely a cliche in sight.
After the Flood and some amazing hand drumming. Hand drumming seems to be the in thing amongst present day percussionists  and few, if any, do it better than Lyttle who somehow incorporated shakers and scrapers into the mix. More prodigious alto playing and a bass solo from Turner making his debut with the trio,
Lullaby of the Lost featured Jean Toussaint - talking! No, the former Jazz Messenger hadn't popped in for a bottle of Geordie Jazz, instead, Lyttle who, like Harrison, has been much inspired by Toussaint played a recording of the great man giving out advice to aspiring jazz musicians as a backdrop to the music. The gist of which was to be yourself making an analogy with fingerprints. Every person's fingerprint is different and so it should be with each musician's style.
In a perfect world...
Certainly, as a band, the David Lyttle Trio falls into that category.
The set closed with Benny Carter's Wonderland. A tune, previously unfamiliar to me, with a catchy hook that the guys did justice to. 
Time to refresh and catch-up before we were off again.
A wailing blues with solos all round including some frantic 4's.
Facebook Emancipation - a cynical look at today's obsession with smartphones and their intrusion into all our activities. Demonstrated by Lyttle calling a halt mid-tune to check for a text and later Turner sharing an image on his phone before continuing with the music. It's one of the saddest aspects of society today, not least because we're all guilty of it from time to time! 
I Couldn't Do it involved some taped narration the relevance of which escaped me (I was probably checking my emails when it was explained) but the playing was ace.
Jazz Wars, a tongue in cheek look at what is and what isn't jazz, fused a multitude of styles and genres culminating with the inevitable drum solo.
The encore was a surprise - Lucky to be Me, one of the less familiar numbers from On the Town. In the film, it was sung by Gene Kelly and here Tom Harrison danced beautifully around the melody.
Very appropriate for a Friday night in Newcastle as there were plenty folk On the Town (or should that be Toon?) but they hadn't been to the Jazz Café so I did feel Lucky to be me!
Gig of the Year contender!
Lance.


1 comment :

Pam Young (on f/b) said...

Yeah Lance I felt lucky to be there too. Great gig.

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