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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

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 10, 2018

GIJF Day 3: Sheila Jordan with the Pete Churchill Trio & RNS string quartet/ Zoe Gilby & Andy Champion – Sage Gateshead, April 8.

Sheila Jordan (vocals); Pete Churchill (piano); Duncan Hopkins (bass); Mark Fletcher (drums) + a string quartet from the Royal Northern Sinfonia
(Review by Ann Alex pictured w. Sheila Jordan/On stage photos courtesy of Ken Drew) anyone who didn’t thoroughly enjoy this concert should see a doctor urgently! This will take some beating not to turn out to be my Gig of the Year. Not only is Sheila Jordan a superb interpreter of jazz songs, especially bebop style, but she is a totally entertaining raconteur. If she didn’t do music, she could have earned her living as a comedienne and a very charming one. And the trio played along well ('I’d like you for my son’) said Sheila to Pete Churchill at one point, complemented by appropriately effective arrangements from the strings on some of the songs.
All Or Nothing At All opened the set, with solos from both the piano and the quartet, then a song new to me, My Haunted Heart, followed by Sail Away, with a long flowing piano break, and Pete Churchill working hard as he had to conduct the quartet as well as playing. Don’t Give Up was followed by a song I hardly recognised because Sheila made it so much her own. It turned out to be a rather moving version of Look For The Silver Lining, a grand way to round off the first half. 

The second half opened with How Deep Is The Ocean, and a chance for piano, quartet, and Sheila herself to conduct a round of 4’s. Then Sheila humorously told us about how, aged 8, she had to be rescued by a passing stranger when her brother tried to drown her. The whole performance was peppered by lively stories from our singer’s life. She first heard the music of Charlie Parker when she was in her teens and was immediately hooked on Bebop. She told us how she had to register for something official, and when she gave her profession as ‘singer’ they told her that that wasn’t a profession, they meant doctor or lawyer. They obviously hadn’t heard her sing.

 The songs and stories continued, I Concentrate On You; Inchworm, paired with The Caterpillar Song; then the amusing Dat Dere, a song about a child asking lots of questions. Autumn In New York was introduced as a tribute to remember 9/11, ‘when we were so brave’ said Sheila.  Next came a bebop song which I think was an original by our singer; then What’ll I Do; and a call and response duet with Pete Churchill on The Touch Of Your Lips. Then came a short account of Sheila’s life in song – how many other jazz singers would dare to do this? It was rather like the exercise that we had done in the masterclass when we had to sing a few bars about where we came from. The final song was Heart’s Desire, after which this lady wished us well, then touched her toes, before leaving the stage. Well done, at the age of 89! No time to lose, I hurried out to get my copy of the limited edition CD, which includes most of the songs we’d just heard.  

Zoe Gilby (vocals) Andy Champion (bass)
The concert had begun with a short set from these two well-known performers. Zoe has been inspired by the encouragement of Sheila Jordan, and Zoe herself has a natural, friendly line of chat, ‘We like to do stuff with just the two of us, it saves on petrol, we just use 1 car (or similar words), said Zoe. Nice Work if You Can Get It was the first song to a steady riff from Andy, then Weaver Of Dreams, sung to a slinky bass. Monk’s Straight No Chaser, not an easy song, but no problem to Zoe, finishing with Paul Simon’s Graceland, and a percussive bass.
Nice one!
Ann Alex

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