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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Tue 13: ???

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Recital (stage 2): Leah Kirk (voice) @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 3:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Jerron Paxton @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.20. Excellent country blues multi-instrumentalist.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. BACK IN BUSINESS, all welcome!

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

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, January 10, 2019

CD Review: Beverley Church Hogan - Can't Get Out of This Mood

Beverley Church Hogan (vocals); John Proulx (piano); Ron Stout (trumpet/flugel); Graham Dechter (guitar); Doug Webb (flute/tenor sax); Lyman Medeiros (bass); Clayton Cameron (drums); Kevin Winard (perc.)
(Review by Lance).

Singers seem to go on forever. Some, like vintage wine, improve with age. Others work on well past their sell-by date. Few, however, begin their recording career aged 83!

Bev Hogan did just that! After spending her early/mid-teens gigging around Montreal she relocated to Los Angelos where a recording contract with Capitol Records was up for grabs. Unfortunately, this would have also involved an intensive touring schedule and she was now married with a one-year-old child...

So, motherhood and family building took over and music was relegated to, if not a back seat, a non-performing one for the next 40 years.

In 2002, Beverley sang at Catalina Jazz Club in Hollywood and, suddenly, her once-promising career was back on track and, finally, aged 83, she recorded her first album!

I listened to the album before reading the notes (I just glanced at the sleeve) and I was knocked out by this sophisticated lady who, I guessed, was maybe approaching middle-age from a distance - I was falling foolishly in love - if only I was younger.... then I read the notes, Beverley Church Hogan was even older than me.

Listening again, with hindsight, I realised the phrasing, the reading of the lyric could only come from someone who'd grown up with the GASbook as a second bible - the maturity shines through - age certainly hasn't withered her voice and I wondered what she must have sounded like and what would have happened if she'd signed up for that Capitol deal.
As it is, this will do nicely, thank you very much.

Apart from the great vocals, the band is also brilliant. Proulx did the arrangements and the solos from Stout and Webb put the icing on a very tasty cake indeed!
Lance.
Take my Breath Away; Losing My Mind; You're Looking at me; Can't Get Out of This Mood; Wait Till You See Him; I Know You by Heart; I'm Through With Love; Speak Low; Stuck in a Dream; Time After Time.

4 comments :

Patti said...

This sounds fabulous, Lance - is there any info on where to buy the CD? I've looked online, but no result so far.

Lance said...

You could try emailing her @ beverleychurchhogan@earthlink.net

Valerie Saffell (on F/b) said...

Nothing but love for this sophisticated lady !!

Patti said...

And - now the CD is listed for sale on CDBaby - finally I've been able to order a copy of it!! Whoopee!!

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