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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, April 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

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.

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

Saturday, July 29, 2017

Jo Harrop & Paul Edis @ The Jazz Café - July 27

Jo Harrop (vocals) & Paul Edis (piano)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
The second of four engagements in her native north east for London based Jo Harrop. Newcastle’s Jazz Café reunited vocalist Harrop with pianist Paul Edis for a duo performance of classic material ranging from Ellington to Gershwin, Legrand to Mancini. Four gigs in a whirlwind three days (two in Newcastle, one in Durham and a first appearance at Ushaw) working with some of the region’s top flight musicians enabled Ms Harrop to reunite with family and friends making for an extended social occasion.
This Thursday evening gig at the Jazz Café attracted a select audience. It is rare to hear a pin drop at a gig but this was the exception with an attentive audience hanging on every note. Ellington’s All Too Soon opened the programme signalling two sets of classic material. I Can’t Give You Anything But Love, Let’s Fall in Love, an infallible ear and enviable range confirm Harrop as being in the top echelon of jazz singers. The carefree, the melancholic – Let’s Get Lost, Don’t Be That Way – pitch-perfect Harrop was a joy to listen to. The other half of this Jazz Café equation, Dr Paul Edis, knows how to coax a tune from the Pink Lane upright. Edis provided immaculate accompaniment and, on several occasions, crafted magical solos peppered with impressive stride patterns.      

Harrop and Edis hail from County Durham yet it wasn’t until they studied in London that their paths first crossed. Black Coffee, smoky, late night stuff, an uplifting Time After Time with Edis unable to resist quoting from Singin’ in the Rain, this was a duo working hand-in-glove, masterful musicians in our midst.

Two or three in the Jazz Café hadn’t previously heard Jo Harrop sing. To coin a phrase, they were       ‘gob-smacked’. Here in the north east we’re lucky to have a clutch of fabulous singers, Jo Harrop is most definitely one of them, albeit domiciled in London. Tea for Two, sentimental maybe, but given a superb treatment courtesy of Harrop and Edis, Too Darn Hot, Michel Legrand’s You Must Believe in Spring, this an evening of intimate jazz performance. April in Paris, Fine and Mellow, never mind a second set, how about a third? So good was it that one didn’t want it to end. Mean to Me, But Not For Me (superb), I Ain’t Got Nothing But the Blues.
The following afternoon the action moved to Durham's Gala Theatre (tickets sold out weeks ago). In due course be sure to read Brain Ebbatson’s Gala review of the duo right here at Bebop Spoken Here.            
Russell.

1 comment :

Patti D (on F/b) said...

This was a top class gig - and for me, the first time hearing Jo - like others, I was GOBSMACKED! What a voice - such control, and perfect nuanced phrasing - wonderful!

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