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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 ...

MARCH 2025.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

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: ???

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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