For the past seventeen years we've been updating the world about jazz in the north east of England and updating the north east of England about jazz in the world. WINNER of the Jazz Media Category in the 2018 All Party Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Contact lanceliddle@gmail.com
Total Pageviews
Bebop Spoken There
The Things They Say!
Postage
From This Moment On ...
JULY 2025
Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Willington Town Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Market Place, Spennymoor, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
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.
Reviewers wanted
Tuesday, November 15, 2016
The Cookers @ Sage Gateshead - November 14.
Blog Archive
-
▼
2016
(
990
)
-
▼
November
(
104
)
- Album of the Year
- Time Change Next Friday @ the Caff.
- Tom Harrison Quintet featuring Cleveland Watkiss @...
- CD Review: Duncan Lamont Big Band featuring Kenny ...
- Tea For Two please.
- CD Review: Kansas Smitty's House Band's - Kansas S...
- The House of the Black Gardenia @ The Globe Jazz B...
- 24/7 that’s what it takes
- Swinging into Ushaw
- Josh Kemp Quartet @ The Globe Jazz Bar - November 26
- Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Millstone. Nov 24
- Mercury @ Jazz Café. Nov 25
- Graham Hardy & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil. Nov 25
- What's Jazz? - The Lou Camputo Story
- Budtet @ Hoochie Coochie: November 24
- James & The Giant Peach @ Northern Stage - Novembe...
- Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ King’s Hall. Nov 24
- Reflections on London 2016
- Pinise Saul – singer and activist (Dec. 31, 1944 –...
- EFG London Jazz Festival 2016.
- New Exhibition Celebrates Pre-eminent African Amer...
- A Weekend of Global Warming Ahead
- Jam Session @ The Empty Castle - November 20
- CD Review: Larry Corban - Corban Nation.
- JD Allen @ Pizza Express. EFG London Jazz Festival...
- David Murray, Terri Lyne Carrington, Geri Allen @ ...
- William Bell @ Barbican London EFG Jazz Festival N...
- James and the Giant Peach @ Northern Stage - Preview
- John Wilson Orchestra w. Kim Criswell & Matthew Fo...
- Peter Gilligan Quartet @ Black Bull, Blaydon. Nov 20
- Peter Gilligan to star in South Pacific!
- More Panama Pics.
- Liberation Music Orchestra @ Cadogan Hall. EFG Lon...
- RIP Hod O'Brien
- CD Review: Marcello Pellitteri - Aquarius Woman
- Jazz Invaders @ The Globe Jazz Bar - November 19
- News From Don Down Under
- Musicians Unlimited @ Park Hotel, Hartlepool. Nov. 13
- CD Review: Count Basie Orchestra - High Voltage.
- Paul Edis to Take Five
- Jam session @ Empty Shop, Durham. Nov 13
- Matthew Halsall & The Gondwana Orchestra ft. Josep...
- Yesterday The Downbeat - Today The Holystone
- Finn Whettam Rhodes @ Quakerhouse, Darlington. Nov 13
- "James "Blood" Ulmer @ Rich Mix, Bethnal Green. EF...
- Jazz Café Jam - November 15
- RIP Mose Allison
- Josh Sinton Trio + Improvisers Work Shop Ensemble ...
- Partisans @ Pizza Express, Soho, EFG London Jazz F...
- Kandace Springs @ Rich Mix, Bethnall Green. EFG Lo...
- In Other Words @ Prohibition Bar, Gateshead. Novem...
- The Cookers @ Sage Gateshead - November 14.
- Greg Abate & Paul Edis @ Gala Theatre, Durham - No...
- RIP Leon Russell.
- CD Review: Burak Bedikyan - Awakening.
- CD Review: Rallidae – Turned, And Was
- Down at the Quakerhouse...
- Sunday Morning Vintage Chart Toppers Episode 2
- CD Review: Remi Harris - In On The 2
- But Beautiful Bill Evans
- Cookers Sage Gateshead!
- Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthberts Centre Crook Novem...
- CD Review: Brandi Disterheft - Blue Canvas
- Mike Durham’s Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hot...
- Leonard Cohen (Sept. 21, 1934 - Nov. 10, 2016)
- Michael Fischer, John Edwards & Mark Sanders @ Kin...
- Mike Durham’s Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hot...
- Louis Durra Trio to play Eyemouth
- Mike Durham’s Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hot...
- Tell me Wynton Marsalis Are There Any More at Home...
- Mike Durham’s Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hot...
- CoCo Rouzier w. Pete Gilligan Trio @ The Cherry Tr...
- The Bad Plus + Binker & Moses @ Sage Gateshead - N...
- Jazz North East ‘On the Outside’: Hans Peter Hiby ...
- Mike Durham’s Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hot...
- CD Reviews: Michael Formanek Ensemble Kolossus - T...
- CD Review: Ken Schaphorst - How to Say Goodbye
- Mike Durham’s Classic Jazz Party @ The Village Hot...
- The Cookers: USA Bop Masters to play Sage Gateshea...
- Q&A with the Cookers’ David Weiss
- CoCo Rouzier - Tomorrow Night (Tuesday November 8)...
- In Sadness: Bill Kyle
- CD Review: Keith Jarrett – A Multitude of Angels
- CD Review: Jeff Collins - The Keys to Christmas
- Early Bird Band @ Jazz Café - Saturday morning, No...
- LP Review: Yusef Lateef - Live @ Ronnie Scott's
- Miles Davis - the Painter
- Big Muddy @ The Globe Jazz Bar on Bonfire Night
- Hong Kong's hottest DJ is back on the air!
- More sad news - RIP Bob Cranshaw
- The Wheel of Fortune has stopped spinning - RIP Ka...
- The Paul James Band Bring Their Great American Son...
- CoCo Rouzier w. Pete Gilligan Trio + Saxophonics @...
- CD Review: Paula Santoro & Ian Faquini - Metal na ...
- CD Review: Jim Rattigan’s Pavillon – Strong Tea
- CD Review: Jonathan Silk – Fragment
- MIKE DURHAM’S WHITLEY BAY CLASSIC JAZZ PARTY – Pr...
- CD Review: Stuart McCallum & Mike Walker - The Spa...
- CD Review: Leigh Pilzer - Strunkin''
- CD Review: Wolfgang Muthspiel – Rising Grace
-
▼
November
(
104
)
4 comments :
Not surprisingly given their horrendous journey and the increased pressure put on the band by their delay I thought the performance was a little undercooked. Despite the obvious class of all the band members the gas could have been turned up a couple of regulos
The musicianship spoke for itself and I liked it a lot but didn't love it. Maybe my expectations were high; how often do you sit in a well short of full Sage 2 level 1 with Sir Lancelot, Lord Paul, Admiral Hardy, Lord and Lady Clark, Duke Bream, Viscount Russell, Count Eales, a lady and a princess whose names I don't know (not to mention the other Steve), and apologies to everyone I've missed.
Funny story. Following a stint with pre- Headhunters Herbie, Eddie Henderson became one of the big names in Jazz-funk.
Mahal was one of my favourite albums of the (sub) genre and featured a track called Cyclops which some bright-spark DJs started playing at 45. This wasn't an isolated incident and I wish I could remember the other record which suffered this indignity. I believe Cyclops even came out on a 12" single (probably unknown to him) pre-sped up.
I often wonder how this happens: did somebody play all albums at 45 just in case? Did the same person play all singles at 33? I have visions of Lance digging his 78s back out.
It's probably far less interesting and somebody just thought it was a good record but too slow for the dancefloor. I always preferred it at the speed he recorded it at but I love the idea of young people googling 33, 45 and 78.
I'm with both Steves on this. I had been anticipating this gig with tremendous enthusiasm (especially as I had missed the band's previous Sage appearance), but it fell some way short of my expectations. Certainly the nightmare journey from Germany that the band had suffered won't have helped, and the rushed preparations perhaps accounted for some of the sound problems, but I just felt that there was an overall lack of focus in the performance as a whole and in many of the solos. I don't usually have a problem with long solos (and I've sat through some monsters in my time), but there were occasions here when I sensed that the musicians were recycling ideas without much sense of structure or direction. Artists of the quality of Billy Harper and Craig Handy (indeed, all seven members of the band) are rarely going to play badly, and they didn't do so here, but equally there were few real heights in anybody's performance.
Don't get me wrong. I'm glad to have been at the gig, I remain in awe at the musicianship of all the artists, and there were a handful of standout moments (Eddie Henderson on his ballad feature was beautifully measured), but "even great Homer nods", and nobody was on consistently top form throughout the concert. Which won't stop me going to see them again if the opportunity comes round.
I took an old friend from Edinburgh as a birthday treat, who hasn't seen them before. We both thought they were outstanding and I actually thought it was a better gig than last years, good as that was.
Post a Comment