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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Bellavana @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30-10:00pm. Free. A Late Shows event.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

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

Friday, March 24, 2017

Andchuck @ Hoochie Coochie - March 23

Nick Seymour (alto saxophone), Jack March (guitar), Tom Chapman (electric bass) & Gabriel Alexander (drums).
(Review/photos by Russell)           

Hoochie Coochie presents some of the finest soul, funk and jazz acts on planet Earth. Proprietor Warren Thomson offers performance opportunities to emerging musicians and this evening’s gig presented four students from the Royal Northern College of Music calling themselves Andchuck.
With an average age of something like twenteen, the Andchuck guys can play, no question! Four immensely talented young men, Andchuck gig at Matt and Phreds, Manchester and have played Manchester Jazz Festival. Tonight was an opportunity to hear them right here at 54 Pilgrim Street, Newcastle.
Alto saxophonist Nick Seymour fronts the band in as much as he does the talking. Stating: We are an original compositions band, the closely-cropped Seymour and band mates Jack March (guitar), Tom Chapman (a young man from these here parts, bass) and drummer Gabriel Alexander didn’t waste any time, they went for the jugular from the off. Chapman dropped the anchor, shuddering bass and bass drum beats rattling bottles of London Pride and cocktails glasses in the hands of a supportive Hoochie Coochie crowd. Tubular (a debut 7” single, no less), To Remember, to Remind (comp Jack March), this was exhilarating stuff. Seymour plays alto with intent; precise articulation, insistent, dancing lines. Guitarist March responded time and again, throwing riffs back at Seymour, occasionally stepping up to develop a mature solo of his own.

Seymour cited American skateboarder Gilbert Crockett as an influence on the band’s writing. This is clearly a generational thing, perhaps something to do with free-styling (leave it there, Ed). What transpired – Crockett’s Pocket – Alexander’s killing drum intro, the band razor-sharp, suggests the legendary Mr C has something to say to four kids at the RNCM. Horizontal Refreshment (A groovy one, said Seymour) written by bassist Chapman incorporated take-your-time solos (guitarist March particularly impressive, developing solos from a standing start) amidst turbo-charged full-on riffing, topped-off by Alexander’s powerhouse display.

 Irrelevant Elephant (comp Chapman) featured a killing drum solo and the unison lines of Seymour, alto, and March, guitar. Quasi illustrated Chapman’s chops, Chloe (comp Seymour), approximating the ballad form, an intense, slow-burning tune. Andchuck and audience were having a good time, a couple of tunes to close – House of Cards, then Flat Out. It’s great to hear an ‘eyeballs out’ number to send the audience on its way. Andchuck will return, when they do, be there. 

Russell.                             

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