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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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

Thursday, November 29, 2018

The Manfreds and Georgie Fame @ Sage Gateshead - Nov. 28

Paul Jones (vocals/harmonica); Mike D'Abo (keys/vocals); Tom McGuinness (guitar/vocals); Mike Hugg (piano/vocals/perc.); Marcus Cliffe (bass guitar/vocals); Rob Townsend (drums/vocals); Simon Currie (tenor sax/soprano sax/flute/vocals) + GEORGIE FAME (keys/vocals).
(Review by Lance).

I'd already seen Georgie Fame twice this year but those gigs were at the GIJF in the same hall and at Ronnie Scott's. Both sessions were with the Guy Barker Big Band so I assumed that last night, with the Manfreds, would be poppier and less jazzier.

Well, yes and no. Yes, he did concentrate more on his "this reached number one in 1964" songs but the treatment was longer and no less jazz/blues influenced. The same could be said for the Manfreds who also rolled out the hits but blew the jazz on the solos.

"It's 1962 and we're at the Marquee Club in London" proclaimed the voice from the unlit stage. Then the lights came on and the voice was that of Paul Jones who, with his fellow Manfreds, immediately launched into Smokestack Lightning. He sang the blues, wailed on harp before giving space to Currie, Hogg and McGuinness.
Then it was time for the hits: 5-4-3-2-1; Just Like a Woman; Semi-Detached Suburban Mr James; One in the Middle; Malt and Barley Blues (feature for McGuinness) and Oh No Not My Baby. This latter number had Mike Hugg playing Killer Joe for the intro and featured Currie on soprano. Currie was a tower of strength in the ensembles and blew some (though not enough) cutting edge solos on tenor as well as his more delicate flute-playing. Fox on the Run; Pretty Flamingo and Sha La La kept the 1960s teenagers happy until, suddenly, I was back in a damp downstairs flat listening to Radio Caroline and Georgie Fame. 

Tonight he could have been Geordie Fame with references to the Club Agogo, Alan Price and somehow incorporating Blaydon Races into Georgia on my Mind! A Floyd Dixon blues led to Yeh Yeh (the number that inspired the formation of Radio Caroline) and Getaway followed by the aforementioned  Georgia brought the 65 minutes first set to a close.

A dash to the bar for a Farne Island fix then back to Row F in time for a solo rendition of Bonnie and Clyde. My favourite GF number although I seem to recall him saying at one time that it was his least favourite! I just love the lyrics - "Bonnie and Clyde advanced their reputation, and made their graduation into the banking business. Reach for the sky sweet talking Clyde would holler while Bonnie loaded dollars into a dewlap bag".

The Manfreds returned for Handbags and Gladrags composed by D'Abo followed by Watermelon Man with solos by all and vocal choruses from Jones, D'Abo and Fame.
GF came back for, among others, Wide-Eyed and Legless; a Moondance that incorporated Blue Moon and a reference to Clifford Brown which probably passed over the heads of most.

Ha Ha Said the Clown; Come Tomorrow; Build me up Buttercup; When I'm Dead and Gone; The Mighty Quinn and the inevitable Do Wah Diddy - we all sang along. That's the thing about the Manfred Mann songbook there's no big words to remember - in most cases not even proper words just sha la las and do wah diddys! But it was a fun evening and even though the jazz was kept bubbling just below the surface, it was never far away.

Georgie came back to join the band for the encore. I didn't bother noting it down as I knew I wouldn't forget it and, guess what? I forgot it!
Lance.

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