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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Kandace Springs @ Rich Mix, Bethnall Green. EFG London Jazz Festival - November 13.


 Kandace Springs (vocal, piano), Jesse Harris (acoustic guitar, vocal), Jesse Beadenberg (acoustic bass), Dylan Tracey (drums).  
(Review by Steve T)
Some readers, including some in the North East, will have seen her support Gregory Porter. Everybody who's seen Gregory Porter, whenever they saw him, tends to think they caught him just in the nick of time, before he cozied up to Jools and the rest of the BBC, playing Glastonbury and generally becoming part of the establishment. I saw him at Cheltenham in 2013 so I didn't see him at Sage Gateshead and haven't seen Kandace.
I was convinced her album was on the revitalised Stax label, so when I read she's on Blue Note I dug the album out and it was. In my defence, the two labels are comparable within soul and Jazz respectively, and it's impossible to say categorically whether she's one or the other, and does it actually make any difference anyway? For what it's worth I think she's a soul singer, but every soul singer comes, at least in part, from Jazz and the best Jazz singers come from the more soulful end of things.
She's less 'down home' than Tasha (daughter of Johnnie) Taylor and less hip-hop than Angie Stone, probably the greatest soul singer of the last quarter century, who turned up on Stax.
Her album Soul Eyes doesn't take your breath away like some debuts but shows great promise for the future. For anyone who knows their soul, think Brenda Russell and if not, Roberta Flack is near enough.
Little Mix is a small venue where Jambone played last year, and this was one of the first gigs of the festival to sell out, prompting her to add another date.
The room was set theatre style and when she arrived on stage and immediately sat at a grand piano stage right, a large number of the audience couldn't see her at all. Some of us made for the far wall securing a rear view which was better than none.
You know you're on to something when the live voice is better than the record. With bass and drums and key songwriter, acoustic guitarist and occasional vocalist Jesse Harris joining them intermittently, his singing affording us an opportunity for a comfort break, she served up confident, accomplished versions of most (perhaps all) of her album, some Oscar Peterson, some Chopin, some Duke, some Norah Jones, some Prince and Someone to Watch Over Me. 
Highlight for me, unsurprisingly, was her fine version of the War classic World is a Ghetto, though their own instrumental remake is better and the Benson version remains the best.
Apparently, she ends every show with Roberta Flack’s The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and if anybody hasn't seen the Clint Eastwood film Play Misty for Me, you will not be disappointed.  
Etta James At Last as an encore and I don't think she could have pitched it better, the audience lapping it up.
This particular gig wasn't the main reason for this trip to London, the expense and hassle on older, broader, shoulders, but was a fine taster. She warned us not to forget the K or we wouldn't find her. Nobody who's seen her is likely to forget the K and I think we'll be hearing a lot more from her in the coming years.
Steve T.

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