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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Monday, February 19, 2018

Postmodern Jukebox @ Sage Gateshead - Feb 18

(Review by Russell).
The phenomenon that is Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox rocked up at Sage Gateshead to play the third date of an extensive European tour. Sage One’s near-capacity audience loved the fast-paced two-hour show, the band playing straight through without a break. Simultaneously Post Modern Jukebox (PMJ) was touring coast to coast in America. How could this be? Simple, Scott Bradlee’s roster of musicians has grown to such proportions that it is possible to organise itineraries on two continents!

Charismatic frontman ‘Cunio’ (Michael Cunio) bounded onto the stage; shaven head, shiny suit,  shiny black Rat Pack cabaret shoes (no socks!). Our MC for the evening came right out with it… this was his debut tour with PMJ! The band cruising, Cunio produced all the moves, screaming, falsetto vocals, a touch of James Brown. Get on down, the revue was well and truly underway, non-stop action, the singers on and off stage, left and right, the band cruising.
Earlier in the month West End star Emma Hatton (Evita) went into rehearsals for this PMJ show and would feature extensively alongside fellow vocalists Dani Armstrong (aka Jack Dani), Brielle von Hugel and the larger than life Mario Jose. The PMJ’s setlist would be drawn from the huge pad of tunes amassed by Bradlee. Would we hear Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake?

Bradlee’s winning formula is in reworking popular tunes, presenting them in Jazz Age and swing era styles, with, at times, the familiar cleverly disguised, often until the hook. The band – rhythm section and horns – couldn’t have been tighter. Clearly rehearsed to the nth degree, solo spots were few and far between as this Sage Gateshead show was all about the singers, themselves submitting to first class choreography. Backstage costume changes were many with Jack, Emma and Brielle in and out of one slinky number after another as the band played on. Jack sang Sia’s From the Chandelier bringing the house, if not the ornate light fitting, down. Brielle von Hugel’s vocals on PMJ’s All About That Bass YouTube hit just about won a standing ovation from Sage Gateshead’s by now jumping crowd.      

Chloe Feoranzo, all of five feet nothing, blew great tenor and clarinet from behind her PMJ Jazz Age music stand, and, on one number, sang like an angel! Fellow horn player, Berklee graduate,  trombonist Lemar Guillory, matched Feoranzo’s abilities as the pair of them had a ball. The duo’s feature spot found the horns stepping down into the packed stalls, blowing as they walked up the aisles. As Chloe approached row P your reviewer’s companion for the evening engaged in brief conversation with our dancing saxophonist. They had met at a jazz festival in America and here they were (almost) high-fiving at Sage Gateshead!

You Give Love a Bad Name (Bon Jovi), Seven Nation Army (The White Stripes), some Maroon 5, Cab ‘Hi De Ho’ Calloway segueing into a searing Thriller, throw in a jazz tap masterclass from Lee Howard, PMJ had the audience in the palm of its twelve-strong collective hand. And, you say, just where was the Main Man, Mr Scott Bradlee? Probably home in the US of A, quite possibly on tour with his many other Post Modern Jukebox musicians. Bradlee or not this Sage Gateshead concert was a show and a half. Cunio and co promised to return and when they do, be sure to be there.     
Russell

Michael Cunio (MD, vocals); Dani Armstrong (vocals); Emma Hatton (vocals); Mario Jose (vocals); Brielle von Hugel (vocals); Chloe Feoranzo (tenor saxophone, clarinet & vocals); Lemar Guillory (trombone); ? (guitar & banjo); ? (piano); ? (double bass & bass guitar); Martin Diller (drums) & Lee Howard (jazz tap dancing)     

                 

3 comments :

Lance said...

Seems like they had an apres gig jam at the Prohibition Bar!

Patti said...

Maybe if any of the Blog readers were lucky enough to catch this jam session, they can post comments for us!! I bet it was a fantastic night ..... and I'm still kicking myself that I missed it!

Lance said...

You can check it out on Prohibition Bar's Facebook page.

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