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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

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

Saturday, May 19, 2018

Pianos and how to break ‘em! - Paul Edis Trio @ Ushaw - May 18

Paul Edis (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums)

(Review by Jerry)
We were lucky to find a parking spot in front of this imposing old building and even luckier to find a seat inside. The Francis Thompson Room was packed and more chairs were being carried in right up to the gig’s start time. It is truly heartening to see so many people on a Friday, forsaking the bars, eateries (barbecues, even, on such a glorious evening!) or comforts of home to listen to live jazz. They arrived expectant, they left buzzing after a piano-themed feast served up by musical master chefs, Edis, Morgan and Champion! The trio, then with Adam Sinclair on drums, had given a similar master-class in Fenham last month (see review by Russell).
As then, they opened with a personal favourite, It’s Only a Paper Moon, with solos and fours giving all three musicians the chance to introduce themselves to the audience. Nat King Cole’s influence on other pianists was the link to Moten Swing, here performed in a manner which would probably have raised approving smiles from Messrs. Thigpen, Brown and Peterson. Another disciple was Bill Evans who, in turn, is a massive influence on tonight’s pianist – thus it is that music evolves. Like Someone in Love opened with an almost classical piano intro and included more fours, later, with Edis singling out tonight’s drummer, Russ Morgan, for additional applause at the end.

Snakes and Ladders and Lucky Eleven, two Edis originals, followed – the justification of their inclusion in the “history of jazz piano” being as inventive as some of the composer’s own solos on the night – but great tunes both. Lucky Eleven is a beautifully melodic, reflective ballad while Snakes and Ladders is either “a philosophical narrative about life” or “a tune which goes up and down” according to the listener’s preference!

Timeout for the interval was signalled by Unsquare Dance, appropriately from Brubeck’s 1959 album, Time Out. Infectious 7/8 time, rhythmic clapping and drumming and dexterous piano-work make this a crowd-pleaser but, as Russell commented after the Fenham gig, it’s really Andy Champion’s bass which holds the pyrotechnics together. It certainly pleased this crowd who seemed almost to be expecting an encore even though it was only the end of the first set!

That elation was quickly re-established by the up-tempo Edis original, Whiskers with big applause for the bass solo and for great brush-work (“whisker-work” maybe?). There was amazing piano on Lullaby of Birdland with a sustained two-handed tremolo (trill?) moving almost all the way up the keyboard. The bass solo and cheeky ending were also noteworthy. More Evans followed with the “complex harmonies” of Very Early, a tune Edis uses as an exemplar with his degree students.

The Long Way Round is a catchy tune which really grows on you. Inspired in equal parts by Jobim and the Tyneside Metro, I particularly liked the bass part tonight and the crescendo and “snap” finish to the piece. The ballad, Lush Life – Billy Strayhorn via (a name to conjure with) Phineas Newborn Jnr – followed and then it was time for Monk…

Talking of names to conjure with, this is one I have to google every time: Ba-Lue Bolivar Ba-Lues-Are – as quirky and as brilliant as the man himself! In between intricate runs and piano tricks, some of Edis’ hammered, finger-jabbing notes reminded me of the person living below Monk’s apartment who complained about the man upstairs demolishing pianos! Champion, not to be outdone, elicited whoops and cheers for his solo while Russ Morgan, starting with brushes, then hands (and elbows!??), then sticks and loadsa bass-drum, whipped up a storm! How, as an encore, do you follow that? With a kamikaze-paced Edis original, Lines, that’s how!

As I said earlier, the audience (big enough almost to call it a crowd!) were buzzing and, had the gig gone on for two days, as Edis jokingly threatened at the start, no-one would have left.
Jerry

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