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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, September 09, 2017

CD Review: Gareth Lockrane Big Band - Fistfight at the Barndance

(Review by Lance).
I first heard the Gareth Lockrane Big Band at the Spice of Life one heady afternoon at the 2013 London Jazz Festival. I was knocked out then and I'm knocked out now - with an album of this name, how could I not be!?
Fistfight at the Barndance: What a great title for both the album and the opening track!  Inspired by a riff his dad used to blow on harmonica Lockrane has expanded it into a number that does give image to a barn dance brawl with Dickinson, Lockrane and Stanley the ones slugging it out.

With such a stellar line-up it's impossible to single anyone out - apart from Lockrane that is. His compositions, arrangements and playing on an assortment of flutes, place him way up high in the upper echelons of British Jazz (correction, substitute 'British' with 'World').
Well, maybe I'll single out a few more!
If I didn't mention Paul Booth's tenor workout on, On the Fly I'd become personae non gratae  in the north-east jazz society, Paul being ranked alongside, Kathy Stobart, Derek Humble, the brothers Carr, Colin Oxley, Dave Cliff, Ronnie Stephenson, Chris Sharkey and a few others who have made their mark further afield (There are a few more in the pipeline!)
On the Fly features Lockrane, Fishwick (in cracking form) and Paul.
Ian Thomas whose drumming really pushes the soloists. Gardiner-Bateman, to me, a new name on alto, but not for long I guess.
Ross Stanley: Piano fine but put him behind the good old Hammond B3 (if it is such) and he becomes a man possessed!
Forever Now, a beautiful tune that is worthy of words, however, solos from Lockrane and Taimoori transcend words.
Big bands today are stuck between the devil and the deep blue sea. Do you go for the tried and tested formula of 70 years ago or the orchestral explorations of more contemporary bands?
I love Ellington, Basie, Shaw, Goodman etc. - on record. I don't want to hear today's musicians playing the old (or even updated) charts of the classics.
Likewise, I don't want to listen to some contemporary big name bands (in small pools, I admit) who bore the backside off of you with their pretentious arrangements - the Paul Whiteman's of today.
The bands I have liked in recent years include - Rob McConnell, Cincinnati's Blue Wisp Band, Jones-Lewis, Clarke-Boland, Gordon Goodwin and - Gareth Lockrane!
Lance.
The album is launched on Monday (Sept.11) at Kings Place, London. Details. Samples etc.
Gareth Lockrane (flutes/piccolo/compositions/arrangements); Sam Mayne, James Gardiner-Bateman (alto/soprano/clarinet); Graeme Blevins (tenor on 8 tks); Paul Booth (tenor on 3 tks); Nadim Teimoori (tenor/flute); Richard Shepherd (baritone/bass clarinet); Andy Greenwood, Tom Walsh, Steve Fishwick, Henry Collins (trumpet/flugel); Mark Nightingale, Barnaby Dickinson, Trevor Mires (trombone); Barry Clements (bass trombone); Mike Outram (guitar); Ross Stanley (Hammond/piano/Rhodes); Ryan Trebilcock (bass); Ian Thomas (drums); Hugh Wilkinson (perc.); Jonny Mansfield (marimba on 1 tk.)

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