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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

18069 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 390 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (May 222).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 11:30am & 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 1:30pm. Free.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

Mon 26: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 26: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.00. & £10.00.
Tue 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Front St., Rothbury NE65 7UT.7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. adv. from Tully’s (opp. venue).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: That’s the Blues, Dad.
Thu 29: Nova.sol + Mikoudi @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 29: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, blues etc.

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, October 16, 2016

Emma Fisk and Paul Edis @ St. Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. October 14.

Emma Fisk, violin and Paul Edis, piano.
(Review/photos by Jerry)
“It’s not all jazz”, Emma said: “It is all acoustic,” Paul added. A very different gig to review then, given my encyclopedic ignorance of all tonight’s three genres!  Additionally, unlike “normal” gigs, many of the tunes played were short giving a total set list of 22 tunes. No wonder Steve-T chose to imbibe leaving me to scribe!
Let me say from the outset, the whole evening was tremendous – a musical tour (de force) across continents, centuries, and genres - a violin masterclass interspersed with information and anecdotes about the composers and their music.  Crook was at its best with a good crowd (about 60), and resplendent with candelabra in all the windowsills. Paul Edis, at the piano, was flanked by candelabra but despite playing in a range of styles never sought to emulate Liberace!

From the off, Crook was “tango-ed” with the best known of that genre, the Uruguayan La Cumparsita. Then to the U.S. for Honeysuckle Rose with Edis getting a good groove going on the venerable upright piano. Next was 19th. Century Prague with a Dvorak Romantic piece on which, as on all the classical offerings tonight, the violin tugged at the emotions. Tango again with A la Luz de los Faroles composed by the Argentine pioneer, Rosendo Mendizabal. His loss (of his inheritance, gambling) was the tango’s gain as he took to composing to earn a living. Another successful crowd-pleaser, Bohm, a German this time, gave us Bolero on which the musicians’ impeccable timing pleased this crowd and had them whooping  at the finish.
The 1940’s hit, Besame Mucho, composed by Consuelo Velazquez whose early musical career was as a concert pianist, illustrated Emma Fisk’s argument that jazz, tango and classical are all interrelated. I Can’t Give You Anything but Love – another 20’s US show tune gave us some stride piano from Edis and a neat finish. El Cacharrito (The Little Puppy) seemed a whimsical tango with playful variations of tone and pace. Next was Lili Boulanger’s Nocturne, a sombre, Debussy-influenced classical piece by another composer with a sad history. She was a child prodigy who, at the age of 19, became the first female winner of the Prix de Rome for composition. Sadly she died of Crohn’s Disease at 26. Arlen’s Paper Moon closed the first set.
The first half was excellent: the second half was even better – which compounds my problems in penning this review! Skip It (US) was a lively opener ending with three plucked notes: there was much good use of pizzicato all evening – especially as concluding flourishes to tunes. Weill/ Brecht gave us a “quirky” tango – about 90 second’s worth – which seemed almost to stop mid-way and then re-start in a jerkier fashion. You Do Something to Me, which Emma loved as done by Dietrich, kept us (vaguely) in Berlin then we were off to Princeton (US) with the oddest story of the evening: music dedicated to Einstein by its Czech(?) composer, Bohuslav Martinu. Madrigal Stanza 3 is a dark and moody piece, perhaps reflecting its times (WW2) but with a swelling, calm conclusion possibly betokening optimism? Einstein performed this in private recitals with his French pianist buddy, a more accomplished musician than the great physicist. Martinu made the violin part “accessible” to the great man, but the piano part was more complex, so congrats Paul! Einstein, apparently, was incapable of re-stating his own ideas to make them more accessible, so Martinu went to his grave without ever really grasping the theory of relativity! Me and him both!
Next was Someone to Watch Over Me – a real tear-jerker with tinkly high notes on piano and the violin, again, wringing out emotion with a beautiful, high, vibrato finish. Despite Eddie Cantor’s alternative lyrics, I remain unconvinced that Makin’ Whoopee has anything to do with picnics – but it’s a great song, anyway! (Editor’s note – there are picnics and picnics!)
While all this jazzing and tangoing was going on elsewhere, we Brits (being more pragmatic) preferred Variations (Enigmatic). But Elgar could do popular too, as his Chanson de Matin showed. The public loved it – and in Crook it went down as well as the pizza!  Next was Chiquilin de Bachin, a 60’s tango revival number, more waltz than tango, about a street-kid who sold flowers in Buenos Aires. After this we had She’s Funny That Way, then it was back to the classical with Massenet’s Meditation, a symphonic piece from the opera, Thaïs. Waves of arpeggios here from Paul Edis and beautiful violin from Emma Fisk ensured that this went down even better than Elgar!
Tango and jazz closed the evening with El Choclo (corn-cob) drawing enthusiastic applause with a great snap ending and prompting raucous demands for “more” which were answered with a joyful, rocking Lady Be Good, by way of an encore. I hope there will be more “encores” by way of further gigs in the same vein: I enjoyed every moment and learnt stuff in the process.

Jerry.

1 comment :

Steven T said...

And that's why I elected to imbibe; four bottles my wife and the Lawrence brothers' mother (a vicar)informed me.
Were Crook a walled town with a gate I've no doubt Ms Fisk would be awarded the keys to the 'town'. It's always a bit like royalty with a good turnout guaranteed though, it being the St Cuthbert Centre, maybe more like the pope and the queen turning up.
Nothing I'd naturally listen to, probably like a lot of the people there, but she's such a wonderful player and Lord Paul, you could stick your fish and chip wrapper on the piano and he'd play it and make it musical and brilliant.
The Lawrence parents confessed they were Fisk virgins and I had to concede we've been groupies for years. You can take it as given they'll be back.

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