The Tyne and Wear Metro is an excellent public transport
system…when it works. Due to technical issues on Sunday trains weren’t operating
between Newcastle and South
Shields . BSH’s Editor-in-Chief resides on sunny South
Tyneside , consequently his absence from the Jazz Co-op’s big day
proved unavoidable. Your reviewer stepped in at short notice in time to catch
the six o’clock set by the Customs House
Big Band. Ironically, the band’s spiritual home is the Customs House in South Shields – perhaps our Editor-in-Chief could have
blagged a lift on the band bus acting as a roadie!
Six o’clock, the Jazz Co-op’s
The big band’s
guitarist, Bradley Johnston, sat
where he was waiting for James Birkett
to join him on stage to play an all-too-short guitar duo set. Birkett and
Johnston got down to business – Jobim’s Wave,
Dr Birkett’s Blues for BJ rightly won
applause for BJ’s solo, Rollins’ Doxy and
the show-stopper Spain .
Much to your reviewer’s surprise the audience listened to the master musicians
at work. Surprised? Well, a day-long event with the bar doing big business…but,
listen they did. The applause spoke volumes.
La Milonga de Los Domingos.
Qué? Newcastle ’s
Jazz Co-op embraces music other than jazz, and other art forms are offered a
platform. A short demonstration of Milonga (Argentina ’s Tango) by an impeccably
turned-out couple (she in heels, he in Al Capone double breasted suit) danced
in a way that would see them arrested on the spot if they demonstrated their ‘art’
down the Bigg Market. The Milonga is available to all at the Globe. Why not
give it a try? Visit: www.jazz.coop.

Gabriele Heller has a
stage persona: Berlin Kurt Weill cabaret chanteuse, Billie Holiday torch song
singer, experimental electro interventionist. On International Jazz Day Heller
opted for mainstream material with her trio Gabriele Mit Zwei (Steve Glendinning, guitar, and Jazz Co-op
lynchpin Dave Parker, double bass). Another
short set, Heller’s Germanic intonation impressed on All or Nothing at All.
Joel and Matt. If you’re
yet to here these young men, check them out soon because before too long they’ll
be gone. Mid teen veterans of the regular jam session along the road on Pink Lane , Joel, 16
(or has he turned seventeen?), plays piano like nobody’s business and Matt, all
of 18, is a Berklee-bound star of the future. On this day of celebration – April
30 marks the third anniversary of the day the Jazz Co-op acquired the Globe –
what better way to party than to invite two unassuming lads to be a part of it.
Joel Brown and Matthew MacKellar played a few tunes in the company John Pope –
a geriatric by comparison! A fabulous trio set.
JP stayed on the
stand to be joined by Lindsay Hannon
and pianist Alan Law. What a set!
Material from Hannon’s CD The Spy and
a clutch of favourites made this set more than enjoyable. Hearing vocalist
Hannon working in the company of Alan Law made the set a highlight (one of
many) on a special day at the Globe. A particular highlight? Comes Love.
Late night, time
for the Safe Sextet. Veteran
trumpeter Don Forbes has kept the
band going for an awfully long time. Sextet, or occasionally quintet, Forbes’
standards to bop pad is the ideal material for a set several pints past the
hour. John Rowland (tenor) is a
long-standing member of the band. A fine player, we should hear more from him.
Matt MacKellar played the set, veteran that he is. An excellent Hocus Pocus (Lee Morgan) had Matt all
over it, accenting, uplifting, just the job!

Russell.
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