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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Only Six Standards.
Thu 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Fri 18: Alexia Gardner @ Fika Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 7:00pm. Trio (Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy).RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13

Fri 18: Sarah Jane Morris & Tony Remy: The Sisterhood @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. CANCELLED! 7:30pm (doors). £25.00.

Sat 19: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 19: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

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. 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

Sunday, February 05, 2017

Royal Northern Sinfonia : The Cole Porter Songbook @ Sage Gateshead



Royal Norther Sinfonia conducted by Roderick Dunk w. Anna O'Byrne; Caroline Sheen; Damian Humbley: Jon Boydon.
(Review by Lance).
This was absolutely superb - not a jazz gig, not even slightly, but as a showcase for, perhaps the greatest songwriter the world has ever known, it couldn't be bettered.
Guest conductor, Dunk, pointed out that he loved hearing Frank or Ella singing Porter and the wonderful arrangements of Nelson Riddle, Billy May etc. but, this afternoon was about hearing the songs as they were originally performed on Broadway.
The songs, we know, are great. They provide a launching pad for all jazz musicians, and singers past and present. However, this afternoon it was the words, the lyrics, that totally captured me. Songs that I've listened to for years suddenly had new lyrics whilst the humour, the double entendre, of some of the others made me wonder how I'd missed them the first (and subsequent) times around! As Jon Boydon sang Brush Up Your Shakespeare, the incredibly clever and funny number from Kiss Me Kate I wondered if in, say 500 years time, someone will write a tune called Brush Up Your Cole Porter? They should and next week would be better than half a millennium away.  
This was all about Broadway and, as everyone knows, The Great White Way's motto is 'The Show Must Go On'. Today proved it.
David Thaxton had to pull out due to family illness and Damian Humbley stepped in.
Damian had drove/flew/trained/biked/walked [delete as appropriate] 300 miles, for a 10;30am rehearsal the previous day and gave a performance that suggested it was just another day at the office! Fantastic!
Amazingly, Boydon, who'd been on the gig a little longer did fluff a couple of lines but I doubt if anyone else noticed. It didn't lose him any points and, of the two guys, he was the jazzier.
The girls were gorgeous and they had voices to match. Anna O'Byrne, Australian opera singer, sang with the range expected of someone whose career has encompassed leads in such diverse vehicles as the Magic Flute and Sweeney Todd.
Caroline Sheen, the sassier of the two - think Garland/Merman - completed the quartet. Her Why Can't You Behave?most certainly would have had me behaving.
This was one non-stop concert and, much as I love the John Wilson shows, this was every bit as good!
Thank you, Sage, thank you, Cole Porter.
Earlier, on the concourse, James Birkett led his aspirants through a short set that heartened me for the future.
Lance.

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