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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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Old Lowlight, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields NE30 1JE. 7:00pm. £15.00. + bf. www.oldlowlight.co.uk. SOLD OUT!
Fri 07: Stuart Turner Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Jazz, blues, Americana etc.
Fri 07: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 07: Rose Room @ Wylam Institute. 8:00pm. £19.67.
Fri 07: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

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

Wednesday, February 08, 2017

Southport Jazz Festival - The Train & the River. February 4.

Jeremy Price (trombones), Andy Panayi (reeds), Jez Franks (guitars).
(Review by Steve T/Photos courtesy of Neil Hughes/copyright Robert Burns)
Iconic in its own way was how this was introduced. It's based on one of the highlights of the Jazz on a Summer’s Day film which gives the Southport Festival its name, Jazz on a Winter’s Weekend.
The Train & the River, by the Jimmy Giuffre Trio (Giuffre, tenor, Bob Brookmeyer, valve trombone, Jim Hall, guitar) one of the outstanding memories of that film and one to treasure.
Jeremy Price, on valve and slide trombones, did the introductions. As head of Jazz at the Birmingham Conservatoire, I'd met him before, I'd heard Jez Franks play with Ingrid Jenson at The Black Swan in Newcastle, but a third member of staff from the conservatoire, Andy Panayi was unknown to me and a revelation, bringing an ECM feel early on, and it's no exaggeration to put him with the likes of Andy Sheppard, Gary Burton and Jan Garbarek.
After their signature piece we got It Could Happen To You, Price told us,  from the category of 'let's see what happens' and unleashed the first Franks’ solo, switching between two Gibsons throughout the set, which the other two had allegedly scheduled to cause him maximum discomfort. The banter was relaxed and good-humoured throughout, with Jez at one changeover claiming he's like Pat Metheny, a cr^p Pat Metheny. He's certainly like Pat Metheny but definitely not cr^p.
Pony Express was followed by Mike Gibbs Tennis Anyone, originally for sextet and this was a huge part of the appeal of this band, recreating something with a seemingly unlikely trio of instruments.
We got Think of One from the Brummy Annual Monkathon, where the staff and students trawl through all seventyish Monk compositions, the junior students doing the simpler stuff, the staff taking the middling stuff and the advanced students doing the really tough stuff.
A few more empty seats after the break, which wasn't surprising given the nature of the music, but most stayed, which was brilliant. For a nation generally conservative in our choice of music, the rest of us do like something unusual and exotic.
The second set opened with Saturday Night Dance, as Jeremy said, to wake everyone up. Apparently , one punter described the first set as sophomoric, which he insisted was a compliment.
My One and Only Love, a beautiful ballad, Warm Rocky Place by Saltzman, a bit Spanish, a bit of a sketch, and Pannonica, the second middle name of one of the daughters of Price; should have got a cat. Some flute (yay) and a refreshing change as we're told he's actually a flute player who also plays sax, and it showed. It was just the reinvigoration of the second set needed at just the right moment. More Saltzman with You've Read the Book and more flute (yay).    
Appropriately they returned to the original source material for the final piece, The Big Pow Wow.
It was a brave and bold venture to put this on, the kind of thing you'd struggle to take on tour, but perfect for a slot at a festival, and all credit to the three musicians, all at the top of their game, and the festival organisers. A triumph. 
Steve T.

1 comment :

Steve T said...

If nobody clicks on the Jez Franks photo then they won't find out that particular guitar isn't a Gibson.
Must have looked at the same one twice.

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