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Bebop Spoken There

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Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Paul Edis Trio @ The Jazz Café - Jan 12

Paul Edis (piano), Paul Susans (double bass) & Matthew MacKellar (drums)
(Review by Russell/Photo courtesy of Mike Tilley)
At short notice, drummer Matthew MacKellar stepped in to replace an ailing Rob Walker. Triptych would return at a later date with this evening’s concert rebranded as the ‘Paul Edis Trio’. The two Pauls – Edis, piano, Susans, double bass – switched their attention from the original composition project that is Triptych to the standards repertoire associated with the classic jazz piano trio.

Right on time Edis, Susans and MacKellar opened with Harold Arlen’s It’s Only a Paper Moon. As pianist Edis explained this evening’s two sets would take a look at the work of some of the all-time great jazz pianists. Opening with the great and influential Nat ‘King’ Cole was a good way to begin. The standard set, the trio played Moten Swing from Oscar Peterson’s Night Train album with Edis noting that the great Canadian pianist was more than a little impressed on first hearing Art Tatum. To the disappointment of the comfortably full upstairs room at the Jazz Café, our pianist chose not to play some Art Tatum – maybe next time!

As Edis introduced Bill Evans a phone bleeped. Disgracefully the culprit was none other than your correspondent. Quick as a flash Edis said: I hope that will be in the review! In mitigation, the bleep occurred due to a communication from BSH’s Editor in Chief making arrangements for a future gig review. There’s no rest for the wicked. The Evans’ number – My Romance – included Edis’ fleeting quote from Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely? and a fine solo from our fine depping drummer, Matt MacKellar.

Paul Edis the composer peppered the set including Snakes and Ladders followed by Horace Silver. Our pianist observed that The Preacher bore similarity to The Bare Necessities. How true! So, from now on, Horace Silver will be seen and heard through the prism of The Jungle Book! To close out a fine first set a familiar 7/8 hand clap introduced Brubeck’s Unsquare Dance. Terrific!

A good number of music students turned up, and, encouragingly, stayed on, they were there for the duration. Edis’ Whiskers resumed matters with ‘blistering’ best describing the trio’s searing pace as Matt MacKellar knocked out another tremendous solo. Lullaby of Birdland, Bill Evans’ Very Early, a Paul Edis composition – The Long Way Round – sounding, to your correspondent’s untutored ear,  not unlike George Benson’s This Masquerade (what say Dr Edis?), and Billy Strayhorn’s Lush Life in the style of Phineas Newborn Jnr. A hugely entertaining, varied set list, Edis and Susans have a working knowledge of the numbers in the pad (bassist Susans, centrally positioned between piano and drums, undemonstrative yet demonstrably an A-lister) and the young man of the trio, drummer Matt MacKellar, knew most, if not all, of the charts in front of him, handling matters with ease, using brushes as and when required with a preparedness to take command and kick it along on uptempo numbers. Two Thelonius Monk compositions concluded matters, in so doing illustrating MacKellar’s versatility; Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-are and the encore, a fabulous take on Rhythm-a-ning.

The Jazz Café’s first jam session of the year (Tuesday 16) just happens to feature pianist Edis and drummer MacKellar alongside the house trio’s main man, bassist Paul Grainger. Tomorrow Sunday at Darlington’s Quakerhouse MacKellar appears once again with the Francis Tulip Quartet. Oh yes!  
Russell    

2 comments :

Patti said...

Another jazzily excellent night at our very own Jazz Cafe - a welcome return after the Christmas and New Year hiatus. Just as Russell says ....... anyway, I've been pondering on the question of similarities between The Preacher and Bare Necessities. First, Horace Silver's was written about 1955 - and the Disney film didn't come out until the mid 1960's. To add an extra, The Preacher also sounds a bit like Show Me The Way To Go Home - this non musician, but keen jazz listener thinks. Any other views?

Lance said...

Show Me The Way To Go Home is the generally accepted source of The Preacher although Bare Necessities does seem to have a similar progression.

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