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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington (National Trust), Cambo, Morpeth NE61 4AR. 12 noon & 2:00pm. Admission to site £19.00.
Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Archie Brown & Friends @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00-8:00pm. 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

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Giles Strong & Roly Veitch @ The Beaumont Hotel, Hexham - Nov 19

Giles Strong (guitar) & Roly Veitch (guitar)
(Review by Russell)

This was the second of two little publicised gigs at the Beaumont Hotel in Hexham. Local resident and fine jazz guitarist Giles Strong opted for an under-the-radar start to a new series of Monday evening jazz gigs, the series proper beginning next week (November 26). 

Light rain began to fall as Strong played the first number of the evening in the company of friend and fellow guitarist Roly Veitch. The duo sat unobtrusively in a corner adjacent to the hotel's reception desk. The Days of Wine and Roses greeted guests - some checking in, some checking out - and a busy dining room comprising residents and locals enjoying a Monday evening meal.


Jazz guitar lends itself to an engagement like this; minimal space required, easy set-up, low volume levels and tunes such as Tangerine, a high octane affair when the situation demands, yet here in the Beaumont Hotel, a different, expertly tamed beast in the hands of Strong and Veitch. 

The hotel's bar offered two locally-brewed beers - Allendale's Golden Plover and Mordue's Workie Ticket - so, why not sample both? With Roly Veitch on the gig Stella by Starlight was likely to be on the set list and, sure enough, it was. One of the great tunes, few listeners can tire of Victor Young's masterwork. Sammy Fain's That Old Feeling maintained the duo's impeccable song list and with the scheduled nine o'clock finish in sight an unfamiliar number (unfamiliar to your correspondent!) - Don't Blame Me (Jimmy McHugh/Dorothy Fields) just about wrapped things up in time to catch a train home to Newcastle.    
           
Next week's opening concert (Nov 26) features Ruth Lambert who will be singing a selection from the Great American Songbook.

The Beaumont Hotel's inaugural series of jazz gigs (free admission) looks like this:

Mondays 7:00-9:00pm

Nov 26 Ruth Lambert Trio (Lambert, vocals; Giles Strong, guitar; Paul Susans, double bass)
Dec 3 Paul Edis, piano & Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn)
Dec 10 Dean Stockdale Trio (Stockdale, piano; Giles Strong, guitar; Mick Shoulder, double bass) 
Dec 17 Ruth Lambert Trio (Lambert, vocals; Giles Strong, guitar; Ian Paterson, double bass)


Russell

4 comments :

Lance said...

Charlie Parker and Miles did a nice version of Don't Blame Me and, vocally, Vic Damone did a job on it in the film "The Strip" which also had the Louis Armstrong All-Stars featured.
There's a great quote in the film by William Demarest to Mickey Rooney: "What good's happiness? it can't buy you money!"

Anonymous said...

Not many folk know this but Victor Young was staying B&B at the Black Bull, Blaydon. He was sitting out in the beer garden one balmy summer evening enjoying a pint and gazed at the beautiful view up river. It inspired him to compose his masterpiece 'Stella by Starlight'.

Lance said...

Ha! Ha! You need local knowledge to appreciate that one. I always thought it was written by the French composer Artois.

Gerry R said...

Monk did a great solo version of DBM, full of musical jokes and whole tone scales.

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