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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

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. CANCELLED!

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’.
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.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

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

Sunday, November 19, 2017

Funchal Fiesta:CD in the Offing? Paul Edis Sextet @ St. Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook, November 17.

Paul Edis (Piano), Mick Shoulder (Bass), Russ Morgan (Drums), Graeme Wilson (Tenor Sax / Flute), Chris Hibbard (Trombone) and Graham Hardy (Trumpet and Flugelhorn).
(Review by Jerry/Photos courtesy of Jerry)
The band started with a standard, Out of Nowhere, despite having memories of getting parking tickets while playing it as an opener at the Whitley Bay Festival! I was there, as Max Boyce used to say. No worries here - Crook is always friendly! The rest of an excellent set-list consisted of originals, some familiar from the sextet’s previous albums, others being “newer tunes” (in some cases totally new to me).
The familiar tunes included Dorian Grey, Blues for Dad, Mr.Hipster and Better than a Punch in the Face. Dorian alludes to something musically complex (i.e. beyond me!) but I can’t help visualising the eponymous hero just about to pull the cover off the portrait…Blues for Dad raised the tempo and featured a great bass solo from Mick Shoulder and Russ Morgan’s excellent drumming. Russ was depping for Adam Sinclair who was unavailable due to some Children in Need-related duties. As anyone who saw the marvellous Blaydon gig in October (Vasilis Xenopoulos & Nigel Price) will know, Russ Morgan is a (more than) safe pair of hands. Mr. Hipster featured a five-star solo by Graham Hardy on flugelhorn. Better than a Punch in the Face was sassy and brassy and saw Chris Hibbard in fine form on trombone.
Though I have heard it once before, It’s Been, It’s Gone, It’s Happened, is definitely a “newer” tune. Written for the bandleader's mum (“it’s cheaper than buying presents”!), it is an instantly memorable ballad with hints of Country and Western in some of the piano parts and hints of Auld Lang Syne in the brass. An eclectic mix, I know, but effectively conveying the message of “get over it/get on with it”. This should definitely be a CD track!
As should Madeira, inspired by the sights, the sounds, the colours and the vibrancy of that island. Muted trumpet and flute featured on this lively, rhythmic “fiesta” tune with an excellent extended flute solo by Graeme Wilson carrying the mood. I loved it! Wilson also starred, with sax this time, on his own composition which closed the second set, Brand New Mountain. I’d like this on the CD as well: so far I know it’s a mountain in Japan, or a sculpture of a mountain on the island of Hokkaido. The CD sleeve notes could fill in rest of the back-story, perhaps…
The band-members’ composing skills were further showcased at the start of set 2 with Graham Hardy’s The Pounce - inspired, apparently, by his kitten! This piece, understandably, gave the front three plenty to do as did another “newer” piece, Cluster Fluster. This also alludes to something musical (i.e. beyond me) but what struck me was the contrast between the almost classical piano and the wah-wah-wah-wah of the brass, muted trumpet and all. More variety for my would-be CD!
Add in the two remaining tunes, Muddle Through and Lost – both totally new to me – and you are close to filling the disc! Muddle Through is a very bluesy blues (winter draws on and my dog done died!) with lugubrious flugelhorn, “lazy” piano and great bass. I loved it!. Lost, is, apparently, about moments of panic (plenty of them in my teaching career!) followed by gradual calming (that didn’t always happen for me!). Tremulous brass and mallets on cymbals (I’m guessing at terminology here) gave way to lyrical piano, brushed rhythms and bowed bass and a quieter finish. Lost, then found?
The evening was the last Crook gig until 2018: watch out for the programme next year. It is an excellent venue and the jazz never disappoints.
So, will there be a CD? The answer is almost certainly “yes” once the band can afford the not inconsiderable cost of recording. Whenever it happens, it’ll be worth the wait!
Jerry

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