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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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

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

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Metered Magic: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Lit & Phil – May 10


Andrea Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (bass); Russ Morgan (drums).  
(Review/photos by Jerry)

Andrea Vicari had worked with Andy Champion and Russ Morgan about 18 months ago on a musical project in the North-East so she sought them out when embarking on a “mini-tour” in the region starting here at that Geordie institution, the Lit & Phil. The reunion was a treat of a mini-gig (the usual one hour format) for the close-to-capacity room which ended with Andrea Vicari struggling to name-check our local heroes above the noise of enthusiastic and sustained applause!


The one-hour format often seems too short and here it necessitated some changes to the set-list: we never got to hear Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise and the last two numbers were “merged” (Vicari’s word) as the clock ticked remorselessly past 1.55. But what a merger it was – Johnny Green’s Body and Soul by way of an extended piano solo and then (my words) “it went all Monk-ish” in the biggest contrast imaginable and we were swinging along to Well, You Needn’t! This seemed to be done even faster than the original with Keystone Cops and a bit of Rhapsody in Blue thrown into the mix: it was immense fun bringing more smiling faces (pretty much everyone in the room!) than can be mustered at the average jazz gig. They don’t do average at the Lit & Phil! Earlier, in between numbers, the pianist had donned her glasses to check the audience reaction: if she remained in any doubt about their approval at the end, well she needn’t!

An original, Get Busy Living, had got the gig off to a driving start with a drummed intro which reminded me a little of the Paul Edis Sextet’s Administrate This. I got a close view of the drumming throughout the gig being able, unusually, to see both feet as well as the drummer’s hands. Someday My Prince Will Come featured a lot of brush-work including a fade to a whisper at the end while Russ Morgan drummed with his hands for much of their rousing version of Caravan. Elsewhere were sticks, mallets and some prestidigitation with a mobile-phone which enabled him to top up his parking seemingly in mid-tune! How’s that for dexterity? Close parking is essential when lugging double-bass or drum-kit to a gig and here it’s strictly one hour a go so musicians need good timing. Andy Champion’s low-tech solution was to leg it back to the car, seconds before kick-off. I hope that worked, too.


Jagged Stacks, another original was an evocative piece (inspired by rock-formations near Wick) with lots of variation of volume and a crashing ending. It put me in mind of the changing moods of the sea swirling around rocks. Don’t know if that was the intention, but my mind has a mind of its own! Punching Out was a world-premiere, apparently, and it, too, featured “big volume in the left hand” (my highly technical scribblings). Other, probably inaccurate, scribblings included “long, symphonic intro” and “big chords” on You Don’t Know What Love Is. Throughout, in a totally untechnical way, I really loved the piano playing. One spectator, on leaving, was heard to observe (he meant this as, and I repeat it as, a compliment): “That was great – she’s not afraid to attack the piano”. I’m sure Monk would have approved!
           
Sadly there was no time for an encore – more meters to feed!
Jerry

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