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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

Tue 21: ???

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: 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

Tuesday, October 10, 2017

The Julian Costello Quartet @ The Globe: October 7

Julian Costello (ten, sop saxes); Maciek Pysz (guitar); Michele Tacchi (bass guitar);  Adam Teixeira (drums).
(Review by Ann Alex/Photo courtesy of Dave Parker)
I didn’t know what to expect, as the sax player and guitarist had taken an excellent workshop at the Sage in the afternoon, mostly based on Miles Davis’s Flamenco Sketches, with us doing melodies based on modes, heady stuff. What we got in the evening is what I’d describe as ‘International Jazz’.
Tunes with influences from Poland, the East, martial drum beats, J S Bach-like guitar melodies, and titles such as Panettone, Walking Through The Jungle, Halloumi (Julian is addicted to this, or so he said).This was all thoroughly enjoyable, played to an appreciative audience, and I can’t wait for the band’s next visit.
The first set consisted of one long composite tune(s) and a shorter number - Walking Through The Jungle. It all began with a blast on the tenor, ambient sounds from the others, mallets on drums, electronics from the 7 small different coloured boxes lying beside the guitar, then a tune arose from the sound, a Latin beat, a groove, tenor solo, quick change to soprano, a drone from somewhere, then behold!, we were led in clapping the rhythm by the band. I’ve maybe made it all sound chaotic, but it all hung together beautifully. So readers will have gathered that this was no ‘play the head, solos all round, head again to finish’ job, but an interesting performance with quite a bit of humour as well, such as when the drummer blew up a balloon, Julian danced enthusiastically on the spot whilst playing, and Maciek and Julian had a mock fight, pretending to hit each other. There were many false endings to keep the audience guessing, such fun. The second tune sounded a bit more conventional, although it featured the drums especially, solos all round, and a rather sudden ending to contrast with the false endings that we were getting used to.

The second set comprised five tunes, and the first was a totally unspellable Polish tune, tenor led, drumsticks on cymbals, and the two guitars complementing each other, with hints of J S Bach. Indeed I think Bach would have enjoyed the whole gig. Panettone included martial drums, and Julian told us how another band member, who comes from Moscow, had complained about Putin. Putin had his revenge for that story as there was crackling on the guitar during the tune. Fruity was lively, boppy, with elements of rock music. Halloumi sounded Spanish, then became Eastern, as if the sax was charming snakes.  The final tune, The Cost Of Living, was cooler, calmer, a tune far lovelier than the title would seem to indicate.
What a satisfying evening of Jazz!
Ann Alex

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