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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, March 21, 2018

Jazz Café Jam Session - March 20

Jeremy McMurray (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Rob Walker (drums) + Nifemi Osiyemi (vocal); Yuichiro Suzukawa (alto); Nick Gould, Paul Gowland, Jimmy Jefford (tenors); Joel Brown, Ben Richardson, Marcus Tham (piano); John Pope (bass).
(Review by Lance).
The house trio tonight is Jeremy McMurray (piano); Paul Grainger (bass) and Rob Walker (drums). They get the ball rolling with Yesterdays, a samba called Samba that's composed by Jeremy who's making his first JC jam appearance and My Romance. A good start to this fortnightly 'mustn't miss' session.
At the last jam, I waxed eloquent about singer Osiyami even going so far as to suggest that she deserved a gig in her own right. Guess what? May 18 the girl is doing just that - put it in your diary folks.
Tonight she gives us a taste of Honeysuckle Rose which is maybe too fast for comfort and Georgia on my Mind which is just right. Nifemi is aided and abetted by Suzukawa on alto who stays on stage for a Bird bopper the title of which escapes me - somebody help me -  Nick?
Nick (Gould) has blown in from Out of Nowhere or, to be more precise, Edinburgh before toasting that Argentinian heartbreaker, Tangerine.
Joel gives Jeremy a spell at the Joanna for A Weaver of Dreams and Suzukawa pops up again (you can't keep him down) for It Could Happen to You.
Interval time. Normally, Paul Grainger asks if there is a bass player in the house. A plea that usually falls on stony ground. However, tonight John Pope was in, I think he may have been at the hairdresser's last time and took over on bass. No such luck for Rob Walker. Ian Forbes had been spotted earlier but, as is his wont, he'd vanished into the mist from which Paul Gowland emerges brandishing tenor sax. This was not to be his night - at least not yet. The mechanism on Paul's tenor had, in the words of one of Nick Gould's countrymen when referring to the best laid schemes of mice and men, 'gang awry'. This relegates Paul to the bench where various processes are employed until, eventually, the problem is solved and Paul returns in triumph for the final 4 sax jam On Green Dolphin Street.
Before then, however, Jimmy Jefford and Ben Richardson set the room on fire before being joined by Suzukawa for a blast on Mr. PC. Joel Brown works out on My One and Only Love before relinquishing the piano stool to Marcus Tham. Osiyami returns for I Wish I Knew How it Felt to be Free and a soul-searing Hallelujah I Just Love Him So. Gould blows R'n'B tenor, cools down on Autumn Leaves then joins Gowland, Jefford and Suzukawa for the final number. It's hotting up nicely with Paul Gowland making up for lost time. I too have to make up for lost time and catch the Metro which, of course, is late!
Another Terrific Tuesday!
Lance.
Photos.

1 comment :

Nick Gould said...

I can confirm it was Charlie Parker's Confirmation. Great night last night as usual. Good to see you!

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