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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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 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

Monday, December 31, 2018

CD Review: Simone Kopmajer - Spotlight On Jazz

Simone Kopmajer (vocals); Terry Myers (tenor sax, clarinet);  Paul Urbanek (piano); Martin Spitzer (guitar);  Karl Sayer (bass);  Reinhardt Winkler (drums)
(Review by Ann Alex).

Simone Kopmajer hails from Schladming in Austria. She sang regularly with her father’s band from the age of 12 and later went on to gain a Masters degree. She has studied with the likes of Sheila Jordan and Mark Murphy, and has performed in Europe, USA and South East Asia. This is the 13th album on which she is featured as a leader, and a fine album it is too, giving us 7 band originals which sound as if they could be songs from the 1940s and 50s, as well as 6 standards. I noticed especially the unusual endings to some tracks, such as sudden stops, or simply ending the song at an ‘A’ section as on Mood Indigo, a pleasant change from the more usual repetition of the last line.

Ms Kopmajer’s voice is pleasantly expressive with no hint of a foreign accent, and the original tracks are real swingers, some with both lyrics and music written by our singer. These include Spotlight (‘it’s alright, it won’t be long, time will bring a happier song’); Mighty, Tender Love (a faster swing); Remember Jeannie; A Gift From Buddy (slow love song); Dig That Riff (a boppy number with a sudden end); You Don’t Call Me (a song with the theme of Black Coffee); We’re Goin’ In (the whole band playing in a lively party fashion).

The standards include an outstanding take on Exactly Like You, with drums and voice to open and scat singing which is very close to the sound and rhythm of the clarinet; Pennies From Heaven, as a waltz; Poinciana; Struttin’ With Some Barbecue;  Stompin’ At The Savoy and Mood Indigo. Our singer allows plenty time for solos from sax, guitar and piano, and to round off the fun, there is a bonus track, a remix of Dig That Riff, with electronic effects, deep sax notes, tricky drumming and the singer doing improvisations with herself, a very up-to-date feel that I consider can still be described as jazz.

The CD was released on November 9, on Lucky Mojo records CD LC2894.
Ann Alex    
  

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