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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 14: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 12:30-1:30pm. £5.00. at the door. New second Friday in the month concert series.
Fri 14: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 14: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 14: Archipelago + Anna Tempest @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £8.00.
Fri 14: Paul Jones & Dave Kelly @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 14: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Fri 14: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

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

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Barnhart goes to the movies @ St Augustine's, Darlington - September 15

Jeff Barnhart (piano, vocals); Buster Keaton (star of the silent screen)
(Review by Russell) 
Jeff Barnhart made a quick return to St Augustine's to present his Silent Comedy Film Festival show. The American's introductory remarks made it abundantly clear that not only is the American piano virtuoso a fan of the silent movie era comedic greats - Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton et al - he is something of an authority on the subject.

Barnhart's sole piano-vocal number Take your girl to the movies if you can't make love at home (comp. Bert Kalmar/Edgar Leslie, 1919) opened proceedings in the Larchfield Street Parish Centre to yet another large, enthusiastic crowd. The American insisted that from this point he would adopt a subservient role, the on-screen action, principally Buster Keaton's filmmaking genius, taking centre stage. 


Joseph M. Schenck presents 'Buster' Keaton in 'The Scarecrow'. Released exclusively through Metro Pictures Corporation.

All eyes turned to the screen suspended high above the stage. As the action unfolded, Barnhart, positioned to one side, fixed his eyes on the 1919 black and white short film (25 mins). For the most part, his piano accompaniment took the form of syncopated ragtime improvisations with dramatic/melodramatic flourishes keeping pace with Keaton's on-screen antics.

Barnhart is no stranger to this kind of entertainment. He has presented his Silent Comedy Film Festival show coast-to-coast in America and, would you believe, Rwanda?! As film critic Barry Norman was fond of saying...And why not? 

The all-Keaton presentation continued with One Week, a 1920 two-reeler (19 mins) with Keaton directing and co-editing the story of a hapless newly wed's attempt to assemble a self-build white picket fence dream home. One audience member, later to reveal he was a joiner, quipped: It's like one of my jobs!

The second set comprised one film (56 mins) from 1924. At the conclusion of Sherlock Jr. (dir. Keaton) Barnhart suggested the star of the film wasn't Keaton but rather his four-legged 'co-star' named Lucky, whose owner was one Fatty Arbuckle. 

Barnhart's earlier assertion that he would take second billing to Keaton didn't quite hold true as his virtuosic piano playing frequently drew the eye of the viewer/listener to the keyboard. In addition to the ragtime soundtrack the American couldn't resist a few bars from familiar numbers including We're in the Money (itself from a movie - Gold Diggers of 1933) and Jingle Bells. As the curtain fell (metaphorically, at least) Barnhart graciously took a few questions from the floor and, sure enough, the informed American answered at length and with no little enthusiasm for his subject, Buster Keaton.               


Russell.

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