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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. 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, October 24, 2016

Vasilis Xenopoulos with the Paul Edis Trio @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. October 23

 Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor saxophone), Paul Edis (keyboards), Mick Shoulder (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums) + Matthew McKellar (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photos courtesy of Jerry Edis)
Vasilis Xenopoulos Part Two. Following Friday’s gig at the Traveller’s Rest, Darlington, London-based tenor saxophonist Xenopoulos made a welcome return to the Black Bull in Blaydon. It had been a busy few days for the Greek saxophone colossus: a workshop with students at Sage Gateshead, the Darlington gig, a stopover in Cumbria to play a couple of duo engagements, concluding with this Blaydon Jazz Club date.
The Black Bull’s lounge soon filled up with all seats occupied. Two of the young musicians were in attendance to hear Xenopoulos. Other music students in the region were conspicuous by their absence – they will be marked down accordingly! Hearing Vasilis Xenopoulos is an education. The lesson was about to begin.

This I Dig of You is where we came in at the Traveller’s Rest. A welcome reprise. A Kenny Burrell classic – Midnight Blue – from the eponymous Blue Note album gave Vasi the opportunity to stretch out; full, warm-toned tenor, ‘old school’ in the best sense. Mick Shoulder, long-time associate of Paul Edis, impressed with a solo spot, the first of many.
Xenopoulos is developing a new project: Tales of a Travelling Man. The three-part suite; Exile, The Journey and The Return – a 2017 recording/touring schedule is in the pipeline – has been worked on in public performance and Blaydon Jazz Club heard Exile (Part II) and later in the second set The Courtyard. The latter will make the purchase of a copy of the forthcoming CD a priority in the New Year. This was excellent stuff and bassist Mick Shoulder strolled through it, effectively sight-reading the part and soloing to boot!     
       
The spirit of Dexter Gordon was with VX. The twelve bar blues Society Red and a terrific take on Second Balcony Jump (from Gordon’s album Go!)  featured first VX, then pianist Edis, going through the gears before drummer Russ Morgan had his say. World class!

A full house on Bridge Street, Blaydon, makes all the difference. Interval chatter crackled and the raffle went the way of others – nothing new there! The Black Bull’s regulars were out in force and many others (including discerning Darlington jazz fans) made the trip out to the western side of the Borough of Gateshead.

Earlier in the first set Xenopoulos played a request (not a regular occurrence), suggesting he didn’t know the tune: It Never Entered My Mind. VX said they would busk it. Well, of course he/they knew it! Masterful.
Second set VX invited Matthew McKellar to join him to play Lee Morgan’s Cesora. Russ Morgan took the opportunity to go to the bar. Young Matt played the Latin-feel rhythm with aplomb. Vasilis tested him with a rapid-fire fours feature and MM more than held his own. As Matt vacated the stage Russ Morgan shook the young man’s hand. Class.

Xenopoulos marked the forthcoming 90th birthday (October 25th) of saxophonist Jimmy Heath by playing his fellow saxophonist’s arrangement of Ferdie Grofé’s composition On the Trail from his Grand Canyon Suite. Evidently Vasilis has studied past masters! As the set approached its end our tenor star pondered whether or not to play a ballad with ‘extraneous’ noise seeping through from the bar. We the audience thought he should, and so he did – For Heaven’s Sake, reharmonised. And to close, as at Darlington, When Will the Blues Leave? Ostensibly an unlikely choice, Ornette Coleman reinterpreted by Vasilis Xenopoulos made perfect (musical) sense. A contender for Gig of the Year.
Next month at Blaydon Jazz Club: the Dean Stockdale Trio on Sunday 20th November at the Black Bull. Eight o’clock start, arrive early to be sure of a seat to hear a fine piano trio.                         

Russell

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