December
Tue 07: Classic Swing @ The Ship Inn, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ All Saints Church Hall, Cleadon. 7:00pm.
Tue 07: Dilutey Juice @ Little Buildings, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Tue 07: Jam session @ Black Swan, Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. House trio: Dean Stockdale; Paul Grainger; Tim Johnston. NOTE EARLIER START!
Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Club, Darlington. 8:00pm. Concert performance. Free admission.
Wed 08: Four @ The Exchange, North Shields. 7:00-9:30pm. In the bar.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Wed 08: Durham Uni Big Band + Durham Uni Jazz Soc Big Band @ Durham University Students' Union. 8:00pm.
Thu 09: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £22.00. Xmas lunch. Tel: 0191 691 7090.
Thu 09: Hot Club du Nord, Lubetkin Theatre, East Durham College, Peterlee. 7:00pm (doors). £10.00. + bf.
Thu 09: TBC + Knats @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00. (£10.00. inc food).
Thu 09: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 09: Maine Street Jazzmen @ Sunniside Social Club, Gateshead. 8:30pm.
Thu 09: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman's Club, Middlesbrough. 9:00pm.
Fri 10: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon. £22.00. Xmas lunch. Tel: 0191 691 7090.
Fri 10: Zoë Gilby Trio @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 1:00pm.
Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms, Monkseaton. 1:00pm.
Fri 10: Secret Night Gang @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Fri 10: Jack Logan (replacement for Alter Ego) @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sat 11: Paul Skerritt @ Newcastle Central Station. 11:00am. On the concourse.
Sat 11: Life Drawing & Live Jazz @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 2:00-4:00pm. Lindsay Hannon & Martin Douglas. Book via: www.cobaltstudios.co.uk.
Sat 11: Boys of Brass @ Branding Villa, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 12 Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Spanish City, Whitley Bay. 12 noon.
Sun 12: Musicians Unlimited @ South Durham Social Club, Hartlepool. 1:00pm.
Sun 12: Hot Club du Nord @ Hurworth Grange. 2:30pm. Festive Special! SOLD OUT!
Sun 12: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Stockton Globe. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 12: Foundry Jazz Ensemble @ The Exchange, North Shields. 3:00pm.
Sun 12: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm.
Sun 12: Sue Ferris Quintet (Musicians Unlimited’s Xmas Party) @ South Durham Social Club, Hartlepool. 4:00pm. Tickets: £6.00.
Sun 12: Jason Isaacs Big Band @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 5:00pm.
Sun 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, North Tyneside. 7:00pm.
Sun 12: Larry’s Brass Band @ The Vigilant Inn, South Shields. 7:00pm. Free. Brass band playing Xmas tunes!
Sun 12: corto.alto @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 12: Under the Surface @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00 adv., £12.00. door.
Mon 13: Jazz in the Afternoon @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm.
Mon 13: 6th Street Swing w Calvert & the Old Fools @ St Thomas Aquinas’ Church, Darlington. 7:00pm. £5.00. Swing dance (‘social dancing’) night.
Mon 13: Stuart Fowler Quintet plays Art Blakey’s album Moanin’ + jam session @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £5.00.
Tue 14: Harry Keeble & Friends @ Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:30pm. Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (keyboards); Paul Grainger (bass); John Bradford (drums).
5 comments :
I see where you are coming from, Peter, in truth I'm, more or less, on the same side of the street myself.
In the July issue of DownBeat a reader refers to the scene in Dowwnton Abbey where the Dowager Countess (Maggie Smith) upon hearing some jazz of the day makes this wry quip: "Are they all playing the same tune?"
The writer relates this to some contemporary jazz saying it's more a case of "Are they playing any tune at all?"
Still, as opinions soften over the years and both trad and bebop have been assimilated into the jazz mainstream (along with rock and punk and rap and hip-hop as some 'jazz festivals' would have us believe), who's not to say that the music you disliked on Sunday will not also become part of the mainstream?
It's often said that jazz should be challenging but no one as said as to why it should be.
Same street for me Lance!
Ron
I can appreciate that if you go to a Jazz performance and expect something more mainstream than improv then it's likely to be a shock. Some take to it quickly, through its often direct visceral nature, otherwise over time you can at least grow into understanding what's going on. For me, the improv we've seen at the Bridge in many recent months has been of extremely high quality - the musicianship on display individually and collectively is often outstanding.
Sunday's performance was a fine demonstration of where improv is currently at, in fact bridging the gap between a very much developed (and better supported) scene on Europe's mainland and here in the UK, which thankfully has its fair share of leading exponents who also perform worldwide, and at the Bridge!
For those who can't get something out of it but are intrigued by it, it can help to try to see it as a musical conversation and you'll soon see how the individuals and the ensemble work together, reacting to each other and effectively composing in real-time. They are more sonically focused than just following a set rhythm or a standard tune.
Those who leave a little early often have a bus to catch. But the time when Duke Ellington brought his 'Far East Suite' to the City Hall in the mid 60's left some stunned after leaving at the end of the first set only to discover the very positive reviews which followed for the entire performance. Yes, it broke new ground for Duke's band, or rather, took his audience to new rhythmic and aural destinations. It's not that improv gives Jazz a bad name - it demonstrates there are areas of music that can still be explored and developed.
Ken Drew
I went on my own to the Bridge Hotel on Sunday night.
I thought the music was fantastic and left after the second set. I had realised that it was billed as improvised music as it was advertised as such. I love songs that have loads of improvisation and some of the stuff I hear has melody, rhythm, harmony, and, in my opinion, great instrumental skills on display. There is a view that the interest in jazz generally is increasing and I feel that this sort of stuff is giving jazz a great reputation and doing it many favours
I stayed till the very end of the second set
I thought it was great. Absolutely brilliant music.
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