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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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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, April 07, 2017

GIJF Day 3:: Jazz Africa/Jazz Cuba @ Sage Gateshead , April 2.

(Review by Steve T)
It's always nice to do at least one gig in Sage One, over the weekend, to see those who maybe only do one show,  but make the whole thing happen. Otherwise you feel insular, like the only people there are the familiar faces in the small rooms, at the concourse and the stands. 
This was the other no-brainer, along with Miles Mosley, until number one son introduced some brains suggesting we should be in Hall Two, and then Lance (who tends to know what he's doing in these matters) confirmed he was in Northern Rock. Sounds like a resounding finale for the Festival.
By Sunday evening, anybody still wondering whether they'd had a festival was left in no doubt by the end of this; this was almost a festival on its own. 
Lots to get through so Shabaka Hutchings was already onstage when I got in, complete with his Ancestors.  
Drums and percussion, rock solid and relentless, as always in these groups, brilliant sax from both tenor and alto, bass and a Hoodoo type Man, presumably Shabaka, dressed all in black, hat rim casting a shadow over his face, prowling the stage preaching, hollering and occasionally singing.
Short break before the Alfredo Rodriquez Trio took to the stage, the bandleader hitting it running, leaving no doubt he's a world class pianist. Afterwards I found myself stood with two Jambone/Early Birds keyboardists and asked whether they were going home to practice or put their instruments on ebay.
 The bass player was more enigmatic, in a splendid frock, large earrings and what looked (to someone of my age and background) like a type of hairnet. It was only when he came out of the shadows he revealed a full beard; the kind of look the media keep telling us wouldn't have been possible without Bowie. He could play too, taking the lead part on occasion - Steve Howe like - with a fixed, standalone member of the guitar family. As you'd expect, the drummer was safe too. One of the stage hands made himself the second least popular person in the building telling him to cut the set (or slit his throat). To the delight of the audience, he ignored him and played one more anyway.

Last up was Richard Bona, or as he liked to say - Michael Jackson, with his Mandekan Cubano. Another musician who could have been a stand-up comic, he had the audience laughing in the aisles. His singing was quite low-key until it required some passion when a soulful quality emerged, but was at its best in the African style of Youssou N'Dour, Salif Keita or Papa Wemba, particularly when acapella.
The band, or as he called them, the Cubans - who know how to take breaks, he told us, as they left the stage to take one - were hot, once again rock-solid percussion, piano and just two horns, doubling up on backing vocals Buena Vista Social Club style. His bass playing was restrained but with enough hints he could really go when required.
By the end we were all up 'dancing' in the aisles, at our seats, where we stood, bringing the whole thing to a glorious close. A triumph I heard somebody say to Ros Rigby as we filed out, and who knows whether he meant the gig, the night, the day or the festival, but I wasn't about to argue one way or another.
Steve T.

2 comments :

Anonymous said...

Shabaka is, quite notably, a Saxophonist.

John Pope said...

Actually, Shabaka is the tenor player.

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