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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

17744 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 64 of them this year alone and, so far, 64 this month (Jan. 26).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 12 noon-2:00pm (two sets). £12.00. admission (card or cash at the door). Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums). Note change of venue, no longer at Mrs M’s as advertised, the concert will be in the Old Library (Bishop Auckland Jazz’s regular venue). Important! It’s a ‘BYOB’ arrangement - ie bring your own booze (and/or tea, coffee, soft drinks).
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:00pm. ‘Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Balkan & More!’.
Fri 31: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Country blues duo.
Fri 31 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Wylam Institute. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf.
Fri 31: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £10.00 + bf. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.
Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00 Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 31: SwanNek + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SwanNek’s new single launch gig. Pilgrim, formerly Hoochie Coochie.
Fri 31: King Bees @ Blues Underground; Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

February 2025

Sat 01: Alan Barnes & John Hallam with the Tom Kincaid Trio @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 01: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 01: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Western swing etc.

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.

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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