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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, April 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

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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