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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.br/> Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: 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

Tuesday, August 29, 2017

Paul Edis Sextet @ Jazz Theatre, Ushaw Jazz Festival, Durham, Aug 25.

Paul Edis (piano), Graham Hardy (trumpet), Danny Barley (trombone), Graeme Wilson (saxophone, flute), Mick Shoulder (bass), Adam Sinclair (drums).
(Review by Steve T/Photo courtesy of Russell.)
I don't speak for Paul but I'm guessing, of all the bands he plays in, this is his flagship, so, appropriate for it to headline the first night.
A new selection taken from their two albums, both essential for anyone who follows north east jazz, with one track from Graeme Wilson’s Quartet album which is every bit as compelling.
They started with Administrate This, especially for anyone who's had an unpleasant experience with a parking ticket or something similar, which must be all of us.
I Wish I Was a Monk was appropriate for the setting, and, given that it’s Thelonious' centenary year, found Adam Sinclair doing some tricky syncopated drumming that I'm sure Monk would have approved of. We don't see enough of Adam these days but he's launching his very own trio, so something to look forward to there.
It's Been, it's Gone is a saying from mother Edis, but is for all the sayings of all our mothers everywhere.
Madeira is inspired by a winding road discovered on the Portuguese island and had the Wilson Graeme switching to flute and the Hardy Graham playing muted.
Cluster Fluster takes the Fender Rhodes sound of early jazz-rock Miles as a reference point, back to when he [Miles] had Hancock, Corea, Zawinul and Jarrett, not because he needed four keyboardists, but so no one else could have them.
Elegy is a lovely ballad with a tastefully programmed and delivered bass solo, and that from someone [me] who gets frustrated with bass solos for the sake of it.
The final piece was Brand New Mountain from Wilson, and we learned that it formed in Japan, but we need to go and see them again to find out how and why. Solos from sax, trombone from Danny Barley, at all of twenty-two, doing a splendid job depping for Chris Hibbard, piano featuring, if I'm not mistaken, a thinly veiled reference to A Love Supreme, and a concise and perfectly formed drum solo.
Lance highlighted this type of thing when he reviewed their last Caff gig, that you only get a bass solo when it's exactly what's required and you don't get unnecessarily long drum solos.
The Sextet are spread from Darlo to Edinburgh and they're all very busy, but a trilogy would be nice Paul, when you're ready. This is still one of the powerhouses of British jazz; classic and forward looking at the same time, and performed with taste and class, with a frontman growing in stature with every performance.
Steve T.

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