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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 ...

April 2025.

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: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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, June 21, 2018

Emma Fisk's Hot Club du Nord @ Sage Gateshead - June 20.

Emma Fisk (violin); James Birkett (guitar); Dave Harris (guitar); Bruce Rollo (bass).
(Review by Lance/Photo courtesy of Billy Nicholson).
Second set and Venuti/Lang have morphed into Grappelli/Reinhardt. The year is now 1934, Eddie Lang has died tragically young and Fisk has replaced the short, flowing dress with a svelte,  champagne coloured, figure-hugging satin dress evocative of a pre-war Parisian nightclub hostess in Pigalle. For his part, Birkett has augmented his apparel with red socks; apparently a Django fashion faux pas in the eyes of Grappelli but hey! this is 1934, the year that Cole Porter wrote Anything Goes
To complete the line-up they were joined by the immaculately suited Bruce Rollo on double bass and the more casually attired Dave Harris on guitar.
Dinah, is there any tune finer? opened the time capsule and we were off to a flying start. Unlike the original Hot Club de France where Django was the sole guitar soloist leaving the other two guitarists, including his brother Joe, to chug away in a purely rhythmic, and often monotonous, capacity, Emma Fisk's Hot Club du Nord has two guitarists both superb soloists in their own right.
Paradoxically, listening to the original Venuti/Lang recordings and comparing them with the slightly later sides cut by Grappelli and Reinhardt, I find the former more modern and swingier than the latter. Emma and her 'boys' turn this around primarily because of the lighter rhythmic feel they employ.
Belleville; Honeysuckle Rose; I'm Confessin'; Viper's Dream; Exactly Like You; Minor Swing; If You Only Knew (?) - an impressive feature for Harris - and Lady Be Good were all showstoppers and the encore, unsurprisingly, was Nuages. A Hot Club concert without Nuages would be like a Glenn Miller gig without Moonlight Serenade.
Beautiful.
I don't think I've ever posted two separate reviews by myself of the two sets of a concert but, on this occasion, it was justified as both sets stood tall in their own right.
Which set was the best?
Mmm... have to flip a coin on that one.
Would you believe it? The coin has landed upright on its edge!
Lance. 
PS: Gig of the Month so far.

1 comment :

Patti said...

I read somewhere that Django was inspired by a photo of George Raft, to adopt the red socks and tux style. Whatever! He'd have looked and sounded great - as did Emma and her boys last night - it was a fabulous night!

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