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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.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

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: ???

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

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

Jam session @ The Jazz Café - November 21

(Review by Russell)
This was a good one, then some! A fortnight earlier the session didn’t quite take off, not so tonight. That’s the nature of the beast, jam sessions aren’t supposed to be this good. The house band, led by master musician, guitarist Mark Williams, shouldn’t be this good, but it was, and is. Newcastle’s jazz community should count itself fortunate to have these guys around – that’s Williams, mainstay bassist Paul Grainger, and the impossibly brilliant Russ Morgan, drums. Who would throw their hat into the ring tonight?
The trio opened in typically downbeat fashion. If the man wasn’t prompted, Irishman Williams more than likely wouldn’t say a word. A man of few words but a guitarist of many notes, every chord, and a few more that others can only contemplate, and it’s all done by sleight-of-hand, he ain’t in a hurry yet he leaves others trailing in his wake. An acquaintance said: Let’s listen to the trio all night, don’t bother with sitters-in. A good idea, a tempting prospect, but, those sitters-in were at the bar, ready and waiting. Three tunes from the trio – a standard, a blues (Ornette Coleman’s Turnaround) and a number Bill Frisell recorded with Dave Holland and Elvin Jones titled Strange Meeting. And if Dave Holland walked in to the Jazz Café looking to sit-in he would have to wait his turn.

It’s been a while since Stuart Findon dropped by. Stu plays inventive, sometimes bootin’, tenor, just what Dr Jazz ordered for any self-respecting jam session. 1960s Ronnie Scott’s booked most if not all the saxophone greats – Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Zoot Sims. It’s a fair bet that Stu, had he been around at the time, would have been first in the queue on Frith Street. Out of Nowhere played with sensitivity and invention, first solo Stu, then Mark. That’ll do.         

Ray Johnson turned up with his flugelhorn and newcomer Simon Probyn, relocating to the region a matter of two or three weeks ago, arrived with tenor saxophone in hand. RJ played with his familiar warm tone and Probyn, standing alongside, revealed a similar old-school style approach. A vocalist was in the house…Simon Probyn! Don’t Get Around Much Anymore sang our newcomer. A singer, demonstrably male, Ann Alex (see Sinne Eeg post, November 6) will be pleased!

’Round about this time the next generation made its presence felt. Hazem Mohammad sat patiently waiting for the nod, he got it, with Russ Morgan making his way to the bar. The Durham boys were in town, oh yes! Alto saxophonist Dan Garel, in his final year at Durham University, brought along a first-year mathematics student, tenor player David Goldberg. An old hand, pianist Martin Waugh, put aside a bottle of Grainger Ale to join the party. Having made a 240 miles round trip from Edinburgh, Waugh couldn’t have picked a better time to acquaint himself with the Pink Lane upright with Garel in absolutely blistering form. Fresher Goldberg made an opening statement, brief, to the point, then Garel. Wow! Hang on to yer hats! DG would return for the finale.

Veteran drummer Ian Forbes got in on the action, hanging around long enough to share the stand with Garel. The modernist that Forbes is, he couldn’t be other than impressed with what was going down. Almost time to go – Now’s the Time – with the house rhythm section back in action together with Dan Garel blowing the roof off the place. The cheering and whistles from all quarters had to be heard to be believed. This alone was worth the price of admission. Admission? Can you believe it – all of this was for free? Garel a sensation, Williams brilliant, Grainger never better, and Morgan just superb. If you are yet to get along to the Jazz Café’s jam session you really don’t know what you’re missing. Next one Tuesday December 5, eight o’clock start.
Russell           
Mark Williams (guitar), Paul Grainger (double bass) & Russ Morgan (drums) + Stuart Findon (tenor saxophone), Ray Johnson (flugelhorn), Simon Probyn (tenor saxophone & vocals), Dan Garel (alto saxophone), David Goldberg (tenor saxophone), Hazem Mohammad (drums), Martin Waugh (piano), Ian Forbes (drums)

2 comments :

Unknown said...

Thanks for the mention but its Martin Waugh not Mark Waugh. Brilliant night though!

Ann Alex said...

Yes, thank goodness, a male singer, but alas I missed him as I was too tired after my folk music rehearsal!

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