Total Pageviews

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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 04: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 04: Ben Crosland Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. 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

Thursday, April 12, 2018

Jam Session @ the Dun Cow, Jesmond - April 11.

(Review by Lance)
As I walked down the not so mean streets of Jesmond I reflected upon past evenings of fine dining and equally fine music at the Cherry Tree Restaurant. Well, the Cherry Tree name is no longer and nor is it a jazz venue but, I'm pleased to report, Jesmond is not without jazz if the Wednesday sessions at the Dun Cow take off. Tonight was the inaugural one, a jam session that, appropriately featured several of the Cherry Tree's regular performers including tonight's house trio i.e. Messrs Edis, Grainger and Morgan who got things going with You'd be so Nice to Come Home to and Toots Thielemans' delightful jazz waltz, Bluesette.
Soon musical instrument cases began to arrive, slung across the broad backs and, sometimes, thick skins of jamming jazzers.

First up were Ray Johnson and Simon Probyn. The flugelhorn/tenor sax duo had form having performed admirably at the Jazz Café jams and, in Johnson's case, at the Take it to the Bridge workshops which also take place on Wednesdays, across town, at The Globe.
Yardbird Suite and Yesterdays came to no harm and the benchmark had been set.
Julija can handle a tune, in fact, she takes it by the scruff of the neck and extracts its very innards leaving singer and audience breathless. Cry me a River and There Will Never be Another You were given the works and the crowd loved it!
Another paint stripper is Paul Ruddick who hit the spot with virile versions of The Night Has a Thousand Eyes and All the Things You Are. Some fancy drumming from Morgan during this set.
Time for youth to take the stand with Early Birders Metcalf and Lawrence on flugel and piano for Stella by Starlight and On Green Dolphin Street. Soon they will be off to uni but not as music students which is a shame. However, I'm sure that when they are not doing whatever they become qualified to do jazz will still be a part of their lives.
More flugel, this time from bossman Graham Hardy in tandem with Stuart Davies on a Gibson 335. Hang on to your Gibsons, they may soon be collector's items. The pair shone incandescently on Work Song and Nostalgia in Times Square. Hardy stayed on board for a flugel/trombone pairing with Chris Gurgi-Smith (on leave from the Customs House Big Band who, incidentally, can be heard on Friday, April 13, at the Everyman Theatre in Spennymoor. Details in RH column.) Gurgi-Smith and Hardy sounded good on So What? (or was it All Blues?) and we look forward to hearing the trombonist again in a small group setting.
Alice Grace, no less, turned up and obliged with a request for A Weaver of Dreams followed by Dindi and Someday my Prince Will Come. The girl did good but, doesn't she always?
There was more to come. I spotted Ben Richardson and Harry Still approaching the starting gate but, alas, three days of GIJF were belatedly catching up with me and I headed home for an early night which doesn't explain why I'm typing this at half an hour past midnight!
Still, it had been a good night. Let's hope future sessions pull in a few more punters other than the musicians.
Next week, Julija returns for a duo set with Alan Law which should be good.
Lance
PS: It goes without saying Edis, Grainger and Morgan did the business.
Paul Edis (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Russ Morgan (drums) + Ray Johnson (trumpet); Simon Probyn (tenor); Julija Jacenaite (vocal); Paul Ruddick (alto); James Metcalf (flugel); Ben Lawrence (piano); Graham Hardy (flugel); Stuart Davies (guitar); Chris Gurgi-Smith (trombone); Alice Grace (vocals) and ...

No comments :

Blog Archive