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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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 04: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 04: Ben Crosland Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: 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

Tuesday, April 04, 2017

GIJF Day 3 @ Sage Gateshead: Jambone with Zoe Gilby and Matt Anderson

(Review by Ann Alex/photo courtesy of Russell)
This concert was part of a project involving our own local singer Zoe Gilby, and Matt Anderson from Yorkshire, who had written new music to be performed by Sage Gateshead’s own youth jazz ensemble, Jambone. The first song was Zoe’s Is It Me?, a lively bop style song which was Zoe’s response to recent general upsets in the world, a theme which cropped up a few times during the weekend. Then came The Tunnel, which Ms Gilby wrote after performing in the atmospheric surroundings of a disused train tunnel in Romania. This was a swinger, with the brass instruments adding to the atmosphere, trombone, alto and tenor sax solos, and even flute solos and a round of acapella singing from the band, with harmonies: ‘Holding the past, it lasts for a lifetime, legend of old, the story told.’
There then followed Paul Edis’s beautiful arrangement of The Water Of Tyne, done as a canon (a sort of complex round) and another gentle piece by Edis, Please Peace Piece. Matt Anderson stepped up to the plate to conduct his own piece Interesting Times (that theme again) with the band and the drums exchanging bars of 4, then came Matt’s Distances, when he considered the distances involved in travelling to New Zealand, with a baritone sax solo from Ryan De Silva, long notes to represent the journey. The concert was neatly rounded off with Edis’s Loop the Loop, with solos all round and a tasty duet from bass and a breathy Jethro-Tull like flute.
I enjoyed this performance just as much as the offerings from the more famous musicians, not that I’m influenced by knowing some of those on stage personally, mind. And the colourful programme notes provided were a great help in writing this piece anyway.
Ann Alex
Paul Edis (director); Zoe Gilby (vocals); Matt Anderson (tenor sax)
Jambone:  Nicholas Caughey, Ryan De Silva, Alex Thompson, Henry Schmid, Ella Talbot (saxes);
Megan Robinson, Imogen Davies-Pugh (flutes); 
James Metcalf, Ben Lawrence, Lucien Guest, Callum Mellis (trumpets); Darcy Whyatt, Kate Garnett, Fabio De Sousa (trombones); Philipp Grobe (piano); Matthew Downey (guitar); Alex Shipsey (bass); Dylan Thompson (drums).

1 comment :

Steve T said...

Really enjoyed PPP. If the rest of Kind of Blue was as good as So What and Flamenco Sketches, it wouldn't be over-rated. I think there were bits of Sketches of Spain in there too and the famous TV broadcast of So What with Gil Evans when the bones come in - magical.
Great when Dr Phil turned round to play the organ too but the whole band are sounding great.

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