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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Wednesday, August 30, 2017

Buck Clayton Legacy Band and Lady J @ Ushaw Jazz Festival 2017 - August 26














Alan Barnes (alto saxophone & clarinet), Dean Masser (tenor saxophone), Ian Smith (trumpet), Ian Bateman (trombone), JJ Vinton (piano), Alyn Shipton (double bass), Bobby Worth (drums) & Lady J (vocals)
(Review/photos courtesy of Russell)
The legendary, the erudite, the virtuosic, put them together and you’ve got yourself a headline act. Alyn Shipton travelled north with his renowned Buck Clayton Legacy Band, and for good measure, Lady J, to play the set piece concert at this year’s Ushaw Jazz Festival. A programme associated with Buck Clayton and Billie Holiday, performed by some of the best in the business, drew a large crowd to Ushaw’s imposing Exhibition Hall.
The band elected to play on the floor in front of the stage, not least because of the piano standing on the floor and no one was about to volunteer to attempt to move it onto the metre high stage! As members of the band assembled for a sound check, the absence of Germany’s Matthias Seuffert became apparent. It transpired that Seuffert was never scheduled to play the gig, and furthermore, Robert Fowler was engaged elsewhere. Stepping into the breach, Mr Dean Masser. Not a bad dep!

Small group Buck Clayton. Is there anything better? This concert presentation would feature Buck, Billie, and Johnny Hodges. Alyn Shipton’s ensemble clearly delights in playing the charts. A swing feel was present from beginning to end courtesy of the ace rhythm section (Messrs JJ Vinton, Alyn Shipton and Bobby Worth) and the four-strong frontline (Alan Barnes, Dean Masser, Ian Smith and Ian Bateman). Outer Drive, The Jeep is Jumpin’, Shady Side…faultless musicianship, and a debut appearance with the band for Dean Masser…one would never have known it.

Shipton introduced Lady J. A lady of mystery, her name shall remain a closely guarded secret. The Billie Holiday numbers came thick and fast – Back in Your Own Backyard, I’m a Fool to Want You, What a Little Moonlight Can Do. Bobby Worth’s brushes on the first of the tunes a masterclass, the clarinet of Barnesy to the fore on the second, and the band cookin’ on the third. Lady J sang These Foolish Things with rhythm section accompaniment, horns resting.

The interval consensus: Five star! In the refectory: a quickfire double quip from Alan Barnes. As the man walked passed on his way to the bar Don’t get up! Inquiring as to the whereabouts of Matthias Seuffert He’s been sectioned!

Johnny Hodges/Alan Barnes opened the second set with Sweet as Bear Meat…small group swing at its best. Lady J returned to sing Good Morning Heartache, Barnes’ clarinet intro set up tenor sax dep Dean Masser on Do Nothin’ Til You Hear from Me and Lady J, with white gardenia in her hair,  singing I Hear Music. Affable trumpeter Ian Smith provided superb accompaniment to Lady J, not least on God Bless the Child, and the Buck Clayton Legacy Band closed the concert with My Old Flame and Billie/Lady J singing I Cover the Waterfront.
Russell.                          

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