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Bebop Spoken There

Xhosa Cole: ''Monk was unapologetically himself". (Jazzwise, 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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 02: Jive Aces @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Sun 02: John Pope + Andy Champion + Ian Paterson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Subterranean Explorations 1’. Three (half hour) solo bass sets.
Sun 02: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 03: Andy Watt & Dan Rogers @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance. Jazz, blues, folk etc.
Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 04: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.
Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Phillips, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 04: Dilutey Juice + Life Aquatics Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Lewis Watson Quartet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Latin jazz/top-rated dance bands.
Thu 06: Rose Room @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 06: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Helen Barber (vocals) & Alex Moon (piano).
Thu 06: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guests: Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Donna Hewitt (alto sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session is now monthly, first Thursday in the month.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Old Lowlight, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields NE30 1JE. 7:00pm. £15.00. + bf. www.oldlowlight.co.uk. SOLD OUT!
Fri 07: Stuart Turner Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Jazz, blues, Americana etc.
Fri 07: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 07: Rose Room @ Wylam Institute. 8:00pm. £19.67.
Fri 07: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, September 08, 2018

Georgie Fame w. Guy Barker Big Band @ Ronnie Scott's - September 7

Georgie Fame (vocals); Guy Barker (trumpet/MD); Nathan Bray, Tom Rees-Roberts, Pat White (trumpets); Alistair White, Barnaby Dickinson, Nichol Thomson, Mark Frost (trombones); Sammy Mayne, Ben Castle (altos); Graeme Blevins, Paul Booth (tenors); Colin Skinner (baritone); Jim Watson (piano); Chris Hill (bass); Jim Mullen (guitar); James Powell (drums) + Zoot Money.
(Review by Lance).
I'd heard Georgie Fame with the Guy Barker Big Band at GIJF back in March at Sage Gateshead and was knocked out. Hearing him again last night in the more intimate setting of Ronnie's was something else again! Wow, by comparision it was like having the session in your living room!
The programme was virtually the same but in this setting it seemed totally different.
After a Basie/Ellington style number with some growl trumpet from Guy Barker, Georgie Fame, with the help of a walking stick, took centre stage to much applause and anticipation - could he still cut it?
He could!
Kicking off with Tubby Hayes' arrangement of Yeh Yeh complete with tenor blast from Paul Booth it was a nonstop roller-coaster ride. Jim Mullen impressed on Blues At the Bull as well as doing some Freddie Greene comping on other numbers.
At 75, Fame's body may be frail but his voice is as potent as ever handling the often complex Jon Hendricks' tongue-twisting lyrics with apparent ease. 
An added bonus was  a couple of vocal duets with Zoot Money - he of the Big Roll Band - and Let the Good Times Roll certainly did roll as did Papa's Got a Brand New Bag which also had Booth and Blevins battling it out on tenor. This really was like being back at the Flamingo in the 1960's.
Solos abounded. Castle, Mayne (I think there's a lager joke in their somewhere!) soared on alto; the ever consistent Dickinson, a master 'bone surgeon and plenty top Cs and beyond from the trumpets.
Surprisingly, possibly because of the confined space on stage, Fame didn't play piano or Hammond but, with Jim Watson to hand, it didn't matter - Watson, Mullen, Powell and Chris Hill were cooking with gas.
Tremendous set that fully deserved the standing ovation.
----- 
Gareth Williams (piano/vocal); Lawrence Cottle (bass guitar); Ian Thomas (drums).
Earlier, the Gareth Williams Power Trio played a short set  that  set the mood for the evening. Williams is an imaginative pianist although, on a session where Georgie Fame was the headliner, he was somewhat brave in throwing in a couple of vocals. Nevertheless, they went down okay and set things up nicely for the main event.
Lance.
PS: Bumped into Cormac Loane on Newcastle's Central Station. He asked me to pass on his best regards to Guy Barker which I duly did. Guy asked me to convey the same back to Cormac. They were both members of NYJO many years back.
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