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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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.br/> Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. 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

Friday, October 12, 2018

Taupe @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University - October 11

Jamie Stockbridge (alto saxophone); Mike Parr-Burman (guitar); Adam Stapleford (drums).
(Review by Russell)
The scatter-skronk-noise-jazz commando team…so began the ICMuS blurb. What? Scatter? Skronk? ICMuS? Don’t be deterred, you ain’t as dumb as you look. As has been noted elsewhere…the rest is noise, or, if you like, it’s only noise. Please, don’t be afraid of the dark (there’s a song title in there, somewhere).

Taupe returned to Newcastle University, their seat of learning some three, perhaps four years ago. Today they walked into King’s Hall as alumni rather than three most promising undergraduates. Alto saxophonist Jamie Stockbridge did the talking. The PA was less than adequate rendering announcements all but inaudible.  To his left, guitarist Mike Parr-Burman, and, side-on to the audience, Adam Stapleford behind the traps. Was that a second snare? Stapleford peered through, and over, an array of shimmering cymbals, maintaining eye contact with his fellow alumni.


Following gigs at London’s Vortex and north of the border, this King’s Hall concert was a homecoming of sorts. Stockbridge acknowledged the undergraduate music students saying: This is for you guys! Would Taupe’s one set performance inspire, perhaps dispirit, the current cohort? The technical proficiency on show was of the jaw-dropping variety; these guys have been shedding for years and a gig such as this could be seen merely as an ‘open day’ – their world of work on public view.

Polyrhythmic madness, hammered-on guitar riffs, incisive alto sax, the use of two deluxe pedal boards (see photo), Taupe played it loud, well, most of the time they did and, what’s more, it didn’t scare the King’s Hall regulars. Some newer material and some older stuff (including Carnival’s Quarrel and perhaps their first ever tune Mammatus) impressed. Dazzling, complex stuff alright. New CDs and t-shirts were for sale, this the world of three Newcastle University alumni. On leaving King’s Hall two undergraduate guitarists were seen woodshedding in an adjacent practice room.  
Russell.

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