Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Bellavana @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30-10:00pm. Free. A Late Shows event.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

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

Friday, January 26, 2018

Jazz North East's "JAZZ DE LUXE" at the Lit & Phil, Newcastle - January 21 (evening)

(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
As already mentioned in the afternoon’s summary of Jazz De Luxe this was the latest of a series of annual events showcasing contemporary European jazz. Previous years had seen the Netherlands and France feature, both major jazz nations, so it might have seemed a bit of a stretch for the tiny country of Luxembourg to be able to supply the same level of creativity and talent of the aforementioned European giants.
My past impressions of Luxembourg had been unfortunately tarnished by my one and only stay in the Grand Duchy where an unfortunate incident almost led to my friends and myself being turfed out of our hotel for a relatively minor infraction which we need not go into here. Additionally, we have all been continually bored to death by a seemingly infinite amount of World Cup and Euro qualifiers against their unsurprisingly limited football team.  Sunday night, however, had the effect of banishing all negative feelings towards this tiny European nation to the past as a series of performances from a selection of the country’s finest musicians provided an outstanding evening of top quality inspirational modern jazz.
The evening kicked off with Jeff Herr’s Corporation featuring excellent playing from both Bender on tenor and Payfert on bass. Herr’s drumming was simply magnificent, subtle and dynamic - driving proceedings with a wonderful flourish. A great start was followed by one of the ‘pick up’ bands which are a feature of these annual Euro all-dayers. 
Our own Faye MacCalman and John Pope teamed up with vocalist Sascha Ley to produce a delightful improvised piece which seemed to be based on Coltrane’s masterpiece Afro Blue. The trio combined seamlessly and no one could have guessed that this was their first performance together.
Klein, the brainchild of pianist Jerome Klein produced an eclectic set of electronic, cinematic music which took the listener on quite a journey. Despite what appeared to be some sort of unpleasant bass backing track, I thoroughly enjoyed the performance. The combination of vibes, electronics and drums really did conjure up some sort of celestial experience.
The final ad-hoc band of this year festivities featured once more home-based John Pope and from overseas Jeff Herr on drums. The trio was completed by Jean-Yves Jung on piano who had just flown in from Dusseldorf that very day. Despite this band being literally thrown together at the last minute, another highly enjoyable set was delivered.
The all-dayer was brought to a close by Maxine Bender’s Universal Sky a fairly rocky end to proceedings with Jung now on Hammond organ and Jerome Klein previously on piano now playing the drums I wonder what Freud would have said about that?
So another great and adventurous event came to an end congratulations and thanks should go out to everyone involved in the day. I can’t wait till next year and wonder which country it will feature, Might it be Liechtenstein’s turn or maybe even Malta’s? Whoever it is I’m sure it will be an artistic and cultural triumph just like the last three years have been.
Photos.
Steve H 
JEFF HERR’S CORPORATION - Jeff Herr (drums); Maxime Bender (tenor sax); Laurent Payfert (bass)
SASCHA LEY, FAYE MACCALMAN & JOHN POPE
KLEIN - Jérôme Klein (piano, keyboards); Pol Belardi (bass, vibes); Niels Engel (drums)
JEAN-YVES JUNG,JOHN POPE  & JEFF HERR
MAXIME BENDER’S UNIVERSAL SKY - Maxime Bender (tenor & soprano sax); Jean-Yves Jung (Hammond Organ); Manu Codjia (guitar); Jérôme Klein (drums)

No comments :

Blog Archive