Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18573 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 437 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 28) 91

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

May

Sat 30: Giles Strong Quartet @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £1.50 bf.

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

June

Mon 01: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Mon 01: CW Stoneking @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Blues, Americana.

Tue 02: Mark Williams Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 02: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Postmodern Jukebox @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Thu 04: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 05: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05-Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne. Screenings TBC.
Fri 05: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: House of the Black Gardenia: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). House of the Black Gardenia evening performance. Day 1/3.
Fri 05: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band + IKS Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.00. Big band double bill. IKS Big Band (Germany).
Fri 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00

Saturday, October 15, 2016

Sue Ferris Quintet @ Gala theatre Durham - October 14

Sue Ferris (saxophones & flute); Graham Hardy (trumpet); Paul Edis (piano); Neil Harland (bass); Dave McKeague (drums)
(Review by Brian Ebbatson/photo courtesy of Jerry Edis)
It was good to welcome Sue Ferris back to the Gala Lunchtime Concert series. She featured in one of our first concerts – three years ago - in a trio she co-led with Roly Veitch on guitar, and then with her quartet in 2014. She is on her home turf here, and harked back to her days playing with Will Todd, almost twenty years ago, by featuring a piece Will had ‘gifted’ her then, and she has kept in her repertoire since.

The first two numbers set the mood for the concert – the swing of Ellington and (more emphatically) the hard bop of Horace Silver. The Quintet warmed up the audience with a lively version of Ellington’s Just Squeeze Me. Graham and Sue played in the theme on horns, exchanged choruses, and then set off to solo. Sue solo gave us the first taste of her mellow flowing tenor – more Hawk than Lester –, Graham followed, brought in Paul’s piano, and the ensemble bowed out with the Ellington theme.
The band followed with Silver’s Song For My Father. Neil’s bass set the rhythm, tone and hard bop feel of the piece, tenor and trumpet played through the theme, Sue soloed first, Graham cautiously explored the theme, before switching to classic hard-bop phrasing. Paul slowly explored the possibilities of the tune accompanied by Neil’s arco bass and sensitive percussion from Dave, then upped the tempo bringing the ensemble back to a funk groove to restate the theme before a slow fading end.
For Bill Evans’ Peri’s Scope Sue switched to baritone sax, where her sound is full, round and resonant and her story lines always fluent and inventive. After theme and horn solos, Paul – appropriately for a piece written for piano – set off on an upbeat solo of what must be a favourite tune. But the feel remained hard bop. Sue, Graham and Neil each took solos before returning to the gentle rhythm of the tune.
The next tune took us further back to the roots of bop, with Clifford Brown’s Sandu, a regular in Sue’s repertoire. All band members featured on solos, Sue remaining on baritone.
The mood changed with Will Todd’s ballad I Thought About Who? Sue now switched to flute and Graham to flugel. Both found new heights in their solos, Sue in particular soaring away on the flute. For me one of the highlights of the concert.
After the slow ballad the tempo was restored with Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft. Sue started quietly enough on the lowest register of the flute, then climbed through the octaves to develop the theme, before handing over to Graham, the band now swinging energetically behind his Clifford Brownish phrasing. Paul produced a(nother) carefully constructed solo, bass and drums adding emphasis at the right moments. Sue’s flute took flight again before bringing the band back to low slow ensemble finish.
Secret Love was delivered at a similar pace and hard bop mood. Bass and drums opened, piano joined in the groove, then the deep tone of the tenor and the high register of the flugelhorn. More excellent solos from Sue, Graham and Paul, with able support from Neil and Dave.
The time was now up, but there was no stopping the band who played two more numbers to make sure the audience got more than their money’s worth. The first, One Hand One Heart from Bernstein’s West Side Story, gave the musicians the opportunity to re-establish their gentler side, while with the finale, a (new?) composition from Paul, McCoin a Phrase, they got back into their swinging hard bop groove. After a 70 minute set the sell-out audience went home very satisfied.

Brian Ebbatson

1 comment :

JERRY said...

Agree with all that - an excellent gig. Special mention for the drummer - a last-minute dep. who settled in with a solo and some fours and was excellent on the samba-style Secret Love.

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