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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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, September 13, 2018

ELT + Fairhall & Ward @ The Bridge Hotel September 9

ELT: Ingebjørg Loe Bjørnstad (vocals); Tom Challenger (saxophones); Kit Downes (harmonium/cello).
Fairhall & Ward: Tom Ward (reeds); Adam Fairhall (keyboards).
(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew) 
On entering the upstairs room at The Bridge on Sunday I was somewhat discombobulated as the performance space had been turned through 90 degrees so that the musicians were set up in front of the bay window(I shouldn’t have been that surprised, the last time Downes and Challenger played here they turned things through 180 degrees with the audience facing the back of the room). To wet the appetite even further on the makeshift stage was a whole cornucopia of fascinating looking keyboards.

Fairhall and Ward kicked off the first half of the evening. The opening number saw Fairhall play on the Dulictone a piano style instrument of about 100 years with a fascinating sound. This, coupled with Ward on alto, got us off to a flying start. The keyboards kept on changing; an Azerbaijani accordion, an Indian harmonium and a toy piano were all incorporated by Fairhall into the duo's set and, not to be outdone, he was accompanied by Ward on sax, flute, bass clarinet (quite beautifully) and, finally, on Tambien - an African pipe. A fascinating and stimulating performance enjoyed by all of the not unsubstantial audience.  

The second half of the evening saw the familiar pairing of Tom Challenger and Kit Downes joined by Norwegian vocalist Ingebjørg Loe Bjørnstad. Now Bjørnstad isn’t your average jazz singer and has a unique sound using all kinds of vocal techniques which are literally breathtaking. Even when singing lyrics in her own Norwegian dialect things are made more interesting by her removing vowels from the words (I know this not because I have a vast knowledge of Norwegian dialects but the singer ever so kindly took the trouble of explaining this before the first number). So screams, deep breaths and lyrics full of consonants were improvised perfectly with the sax harmonium/cello combinations to produce fascinating and invigorating sounds. I am sure the skeptics amongst you will probably think this is all nonsense but having actually experienced it live I can assure you (and I am confident that everyone else there on the night would agree) that this was as marvellous and uplifting a performance as anyone could hope for.

So, a great evening at The Bridge my only gripe being that I would have liked to have heard so much more from both bands. Hopefully, the opportunity to do so will come our way sooner rather than later.
Steve H

1 comment :

Ann Alex said...

Ann said, 'Lance, how about that. Summertime sung without the vowels!

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