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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

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

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.

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

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.

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

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Middlesbrough Jazz Weekender 2018: Big Chris Barber Band @ Middlesbrough Town Hall - October 20

Big Chris Barber Band: Chris Barber (trombone, vocals); Bob Hunt (trombone, trumpet, arrangements); Mike Henry (trumpet, cornet); Pete Rudeforth (trumpet, vocals); Nick White (saxophones, clarinet); Ian Killoran (saxophones, clarinet); Bert Brandsma (saxophones); Joe Farler (banjo, guitar); John Day (double bass); John Watson (drums)
(Review by Russell) 


The man was there at 'Newport' Middlesbrough. That was back in 1978. Down the years the trombone-playing band leader has given concerts in the town but this 'Jazz Weekender' engagement acknowledged that historic occasion forty years ago and signalled the prospect, the possibility, of an annual Middlesbrough jazz festival for the twenty-first century. 

Chris Barber, eighty-eight years young, took to the stage with his ten-piece band to play the music he's been playing for something like seven decades. The line-up has changed, likewise the programme with a significant element of Ellington and small group swing numbers. One thing hasn't changed - Chris Barber's obvious love of the music. 


From the opening Bourbon Street Parade to the closing When the Saints Go Marching in, Barber was in his element, hunched over his instrument, blowing good, taking his cue for his in-between-numbers announcements from loyal sidekick Bob Hunt. Rent Party BluesJubilee Stomp, Ellingtonia vied with N'Awlins' favourites in a packed set list. 

A little like a Duracell battery powered toy, Barber would, given the chance, keep going all night. Precious Lord, take my hand sang the band leader, the phrasing that of the American jazz and blues singers Barber so reveres. Goin' Home sang Barber. Ah, not quite, Mr Barber, the boys in the band weren't heading home, they were going to play more Duke - East St Louis Toodle-oo and Merry-Go-Round - then head to the bar for an interval drink! 

A bottle of Black Sheep or some other backstage tipple then the Big Chris Barber Band returned to the stage. Black and Tan Fantasy featured Barber, C Jam Blues won huge applause, the band leader led a chorus of Cornbread, Peas and Black Molasses - a tasty selection. 

Barber's legendary mumbled announcements were reassuringly intact: Thank you, mmm, now, mmm, the Harlem Hamfats, yes, mmm, Kansas Joe, Papa Charlie, mmm, good, What You Gonna Do? Thankfully, Barber's band knew the running order and so it was - What You Gonna Do? Ah, the band...first class, that's the band. Fellow 'bone man Bob Hunt takes care of the arrangements and the seven-strong frontline - long-serving Mike Henry alongside Pete Rudeforth blew some great trumpet, and to their right the reedsmen, Dutchman Bert Brandsma, Scotsman Ian Killoran and on the end of the line, multi-reeds wizard Nick White - took it in turn to bask in the limelight. The rhythm section boys had their moments too - Joe Farler strumming banjo then guitar, string bass man John Day (ex Acker Bilk) and the immaculate (musically speaking) John Watson (drums). 

For those who hadn't heard the Big Chris Barber Band for a while, it perhaps came as a surprise to hear All Blues. One thing is for sure, Miles wouldn't have been other than complimentary. Rockin' in Rhythm brought the show to a close save for The Saints and an inevitable, and fully deserved, encore.     

Russell 

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