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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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, November 21, 2017

The Early Bird Band + Paul Edis @ Blaydon Jazz Club - November 19

The Early Bird Band: James Metcalf (trumpet & flugelhorn), Alex Thompson (alto saxophone), Ryan de Silva (baritone saxophone), Ben Lawrence (piano), Alex Shipsey (bass & double bass) & Dylan Thompson (drums) + Paul Edis (tenor saxophone & flute)
(Review by Russell/Collages courtesy of Roly & Jerry)
What’s that about police officers looking so very young? Arriving at the Black Bull the average age of those on the premises plummeted due to the fact that six young musicians were about to play a gig in the Sunday evening jazz lounge. More than one of the sextet isn’t yet eligible to cast a vote at a General Election (one could be just around the political corner), and the band’s MD, Paul Edis,  can hardly be described as a veteran musician/educator (that’s way into the future).
Most members of the Early Bird Band (there are others) made the gig, so they played it as a sextet. Trumpeter James Metcalf stepped up to the plate to take a first, possibly nerve-wracking, solo. JM did just fine, and, to his left, Ryan de Silva followed up with a confident baritone sax solo on Sandu.
MD Edis, technically making it a septet, opened on flute as the Early Birds more than did justice to Song for my Father. An apposite Ornithology found the band relaxing into the set, bop numbers are right up their jazz alley, the stuff of their early Saturday morning workshop sessions at Newcastle’s Lit and Phil.

Blue Bossa heard from Edis, Ryan de Silva, pianist Ben Lawrence soloing over unison horns, and, taking it home, the young man at the back, drummer Dylan Thompson. A couple from Miles Davis – Flamenco Sketches and Milestones. Alto saxophonist Alex Thompson approached the numbers with great sensitivity, James Metcalf excelled on flugelhorn, Ryan the baritone man likewise, and, the other young man in the engine room, Alex Shipsey, showed what he could do playing his shiny, new double bass.* Kenny Barron’s Fungaii Mama took us near to closing time with the frontline – Messrs Metcalf, Thompson and de Silva – firing, leaving Dylan Thompson to play a great closing solo.   

Earlier, Dr Edis observed that this Blaydon Jazz Club engagement was the first gig which featured the Early Bird Band as headliners. It won’t be the last!                       

* Watch out Mr Champion!

Paul Edis (piano)
Earlier, Paul Edis played a solo set. A mix of standards and original compositions, this was a piano masterclass. I’ve Never Been in Love Before, From Nothing to Nowhere (comp. Edis) emerged, or, indeed, was salvaged, from the bridge of a discarded, unfinished tune cast aside for a few years. A three-number delight – Bill Evans, Kurt Weill and Henri Mancini – preceded, as one Bebop Spoken Here reviewer described it, ‘Paul Edis’ greatest hit,’ the perfectly formed Vignette.

I Can’t Get Started (one of the great tunes), One Note Samba, as Edis joked ‘the one with several notes in the middle’ incorporating a light-of-touch stride section, and a dominant left hand walking bass line on Gone With the Wind, the Blaydon Jazz Club could have listened all night but the Early Birds were about to fly.  
Russell             

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