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Bebop Spoken There

George Colligan: ''I think to be a successful musician, you must be versatile to make a living — until you find your niche''. (DownBeat, July 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

17,596 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 560 of them this year alone and, so far, 38 this month (July 13).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Trimdon Community College, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Blackhill & Consett Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: NONUNONU @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £11:55 (inc bf).

Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ North Terrace, Seaham, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Knats: Masterclass & jam session @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Rat Pack - Live in Concert @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. A Hoodoo Blues dance class & social. Social & Front Porch Three only from 8:30pm. £5.00.

Sat 19: Streets of Brass @ Durham City. From 10:00am. Free. Various street bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Mr Wilson’s Second Liners: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 12 noon. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Bollywood Brass Band @ Monument Metro Station & Haymarket Metro Station, Newcastle. 2:00pm & 3:00pm & 4:00pm (3 x 30 mins). Free. A Gem Arts Masala Festival event.
Sat 19: Diddy Sweg: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 2:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Brazen Brass Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 12 noon. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Party in the Park @ Wharton Park, Durham. 5:00-9:00pm. Free. Ten street brass bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sat 19: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 19: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Chopwell Community Centre. 8:00pm.

Sun 20: Streets of Brass @ Durham City. From 11:00am. Free. Various street bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: Always Drinking Marching Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 11:00am. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: New York Brass Band: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 1:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: Das Brass: BRASS Boat Cruise @ Elvet Bridge jetty (by the boat club & Tomahawk Steak), Durham City. 3:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00.; £5.00. 60 mins cruise, 2 x sets. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 20: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Pope/Garner/Byrne/Alderson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 21: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 21: New Century Syncopated Seven @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 22: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 23: Isobel Pearce Quartet @ Dept. of Music, Palace Green, Durham University. 8:15pm. £10.00. & £7.00. First night of two. A Durham Fringe Festival event.

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, November 05, 2016

CoCo Rouzier w. Pete Gilligan Trio + Saxophonics @ Jazz Café - November 4.

 CoCo Rouzier (vcl); Pete Gilligan (pno); Paul Grainger (bs); Rob Walker (dms).
(Review by Lance/Photos courtesy of Mike Tilley)
Circumstances decreed that I miss this year's Classic Jazz Party. However, with Russell in situ, the weekend is being covered (watch this space).
Instead, I was patrolling the Pink Lane beat. CoCo Rozier was headlining at the Jazz Café. The reports were good - check her out.
The reports were wrong, she wasn't good, she was MAGIC! This wasn't Friday night in Newcastle - it was Friday night in Harlem, or Pittsburgh or Washington DC where Rouzier hails from.
In fact, if ever the Classic Jazz Party extends its parameters by say 10 years then CoCo will be in line to take over the spot once held by Cecile!
That's how good she is.
Gilligan and co were up for it. From the opening One Note Samba the audience (of which there could have been more) knew they were in for a treat. East of the Sun; Hallelujah I Just Love Him So; Perhaps, Perhaps,Perhaps; I Got Rhythm; My Favourite Things - this was neither Julie Andrews or John Coltrane but, delightfully, somewhere in the middle - finally S'Wonderful and it was exactly that.
CoCo has an engaging personality and a jazz voice that echoes (and only echoes because she's very much her own woman) Ella, Sarah, Dee Dee and maybe every other jazz diva that ever lived. Discovering CoCo is like getting in on the ground floor of  Ella ahead of Norman Granz.
A brief chat with CoCo and a promise to catch her at the Cherry Tree (9 Osborne Rd., Jesmond) on Tuesday. A bottle of Grainger Ale and the [hypothetical] curtain rose for the second set.
Autumn Leaves; The Man I Love - they don't come much better than this! A tour de force Take the A Train; a bluesy Since I Fell for You; an original which may have been called Rescue then It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got that Swing - it had that swing tonight! 
The evening drew to a triumphant close with What'd I Say?
This had been an eye opener - tremendous!
Roll on Tuesday!
Saxophonics: Keith Robinson (alto); Steve Summers (alto/tenor); Alan Marshall (tenor); Niall Armstrong (baritone).
Earlier, the four-man saxophonics sax quartet played to a more select audience. They're a polished ensemble and, although Graeme Wilson has departed (leaving some of his scores behind) replacement Alan Marshall does the job admirably.
Armstrong is, as ever, a power of strength, pumping away on baritone sax compensating for the bass whilst adding his own harmonies to the mix. Contrapuntal jazz chamber music. Mainly originals the standout number was the enigmatically titled Strangled at the Wine Bar. A good opening set missed by those who didn't appear until the second set - their loss.
Lance.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Lance - the tune was 'Stranded at the Wine Bar' not 'Strangled' - a beautiful piece all the same penned by Graeme Wilson. Alan M

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

Fabulous gig thankyou Coco Rouzier you were beautiful. Peter Gilligan Paul Grainger and Rob Walker did the business and some x

Unknown said...

Catch Coco, Peter and Paul with Dave Swanson on drums at Whighams Jazz Club, Edinburgh tomorrow evening - 6th November

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