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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

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

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.

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

Tuesday, April 17, 2018

CD Review: Rino van Hooijdonk Quintette - The Bijlmer Sessions

Rino van Hooijdonk (guitar, bass track 16); Daniel Weltlinger (violin); Joanna Gardner (violin, viola); Nick Sansome (rhythm guitar) & Niels Tausk (bass, trumpet track 16)
(Review by Russell) 
The Bijlmer Sessions was recorded in the living room of two of the musicians on guitarist Rino van Hooijdonk’s new album. Furthermore, the quintet used an old school Grundig TK 120 Deluxe reel-to-reel tape machine to try to capture the warmth of the once common analogue recording process. ‘Gypsy’ or ‘Hot Club’ jazz are terms usually applied to van Hooijdonk’s material, not least because of his love of Django Reinhardt’s famed Hot Club sound. Six of the album’s seventeen tracks were written by Reinhardt, Duke Ellington’s Black and Tan Fantasy adds lustre, and the unusual pairing of violin and viola in the band’s instrumentation introduces an extra dimension to familiar Hot Club tunes. 

Rino van Hooijdonk isn’t the kind to show off yet clearly has the technique to more than convince in a crowded twenty-first century Hot Club marketplace. Rhythm guitar sidekick Nick Sansome rarely steps out of the shadows of a Manouche caravan, his role is to anchor the quintet and he does just that. The violin-viola combination of Daniel Weltlinger and Joanna Gardner is particularly effective  when playing lines in unison at a slower tempo, although when the mood takes them (several string solos aren’t attributed) their solo contributions impress alongside van Hooijdonk’s consistently good guitar playing.     

Ernest Seitz’ The World is Waiting for the Sunrise and Django’s Stockholm set a standard early on with Weltlinger and Gardner ensuring Swing 41 does what the title suggests it should do…swing. A further helping of stomping Django – Stopcontrasts nicely with a measured take on Improvisation Sur Pathetique. What would Tchaikovsky have made of the Quintette du Hot Club de France?

Chinatown My Chinatown features a swift violin solo with Nick Sansome right where he should be – in the engine room stoking the Hot Club fires. One imagines Rino van Hooijdonk in concert is likely to be an undemonstrative sort, allowing the music to speak for itself. The Bijlmer Sessions is a fine recording, let’s hope Rino makes it to this part of the world (the north east of England) to play a few gigs.   
Russell                        


1 comment :

Anonymous said...

Sansone, not Sansome

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