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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Thursday, August 31, 2017

Paul Edis and Graeme Wilson @ Jazz Lounge, Ushaw College, Durham, August 26















Paul Edis (piano), Graeme Wilson (saxophone).
(Review by Steve T/Photos courtesy of John Cogan)
I recently said people like the idea of (oddball soul singer) Swamp Dogg, Sun Ra, Captain Beefheart and Tom Waites as much as the music and Thelonious Monk may just be the ultimate example of this.
I've been listening to Monk for years but still don't get it, though I have no plans to give up. I even asked local legend Dennis, something of an authority on Coleman Hawkins, thinking I might be able to use that as a route in.
I missed Edis and Wilson’s legendary Caff performance, or should I say I was forbidden to go, so this was a big deal for me. At the interval, Russell, who is a Monk man, said it was the easiest review ever - perfect - though it won't surprise him to find out I disagree; but only a little.
Green Chimneys opened things up, a piece I only know because number one son played it recently at the Caff and the Globe. It's from the album Underground, so there's another way in. As if to illustrate the difficulty in Monk’s music, I felt they missed it and weren't together for the first few bars. I almost thought they would stop and start again, but these are top notch musicians and it's to their credit they quickly got it together. Of course it's entirely possible that they played the intro perfectly and that it's just Monk.
From there on in it was pretty much perfect: Four in One, We See, Monks Mood, Balou Boulevard (I think), Horning In, San Francisco Holiday, Jacky-ing and Light Blue from the first Monk album Graeme heard, a live album re-released 1st Sep, so another route in. Trinkle Tinkle, Ugly Beauty, Nutty and Epistrophe finished set one.
The impending gig in the glorious theatre and a trip to the refectory and bar meant I dipped in and out of the second set, enough to see it was a triumph.
My views on Monk haven't changed so I still think he's not as great as his mythology, though number one wife is a fan - who'd have thought it? I'm sufficiently fascinated by him to enjoy his music live and to keep dipping into his extensive back catalogue, and I totally get why musicians want to play him; the challenge of playing difficult stuff and the boredom of playing music which abides by all the rules. Several years ago, Lord Paul told me he was playing some Monk and I suggested he'd be playing all the right notes, but not necessarily in the right order, as all the older people became hysterical. Andre Previn could have learned a lot from Monk.
Steve T.

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