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Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, 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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Hopper-Watson Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £10.00. + £1.00. bf.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 10: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Soloists, Orchestras & Hot Fives.
Thu 10: Side Café Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 11: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00. A Bishop Auckland Jazz promotion. New venue (second Friday in the month)!
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Beehive, Earsdon NE25 0SZ. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Fiona Finden Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewery, North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

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

Friday, June 14, 2019

Tori Freestone Trio @ The Black Swan Arts Centre - June 13

Tori Freestone (tenor sax/violin/voice); Dave Manington (bass); Tim Giles (drums).
(Review by Lance/ Photos courtesy of Ken Drew).

When respected jazz writers such as John Fordham (Guardian) and Chris Kilsby (BSH) wax eloquent about a band/artist then it goes without saying they (band/artist) must be checked out in person, such was my task for today (yesterday). Not an unpleasant task, I hasten to add, although at times it touched on the outer limits of my comfort zone which is no bad thing - doesn't do to become too complacent!
Freestone's an interesting tenor player - a complete contrast to the tenor players I've heard recently i.e. Spillett, Xenopoulos, Kamasi, Nick Gould and a few others. Tori drifts and floats, lightly toned yet still very free but without an excess of the squeaks and squawks so many of the present crop are prone to. Although not one to blitz the listener with a host of demisemiquavers - why play 100 notes if 50 will do? - the technique is there and used sparingly or otherwise as befits the composition. Most of those compositions were written by herself or bassist Manington and invariably have Spanish titles - her writing is usually done in Tenerife - the exception being that hoary old sea shanty Shenandoah.

There were two takes of this throwback to junior school choir practices which, at the time, had me considering running away to sea. The first version had Ms. Freestone blowing tenor and the second saw her playing violin and voicing the words, something that would have proved difficult on tenor.

Manington was relatively unobtrusive on bass, unlike Giles who, at times threatened to obliterate the other two! Fortunately, he didn't and is understandably rated as one the best drummers around.

Most of the pieces were from her albums with the current one - El Mar de Nubes - predominating (see review).

The audience, who for most of the time had sat with furrowed brow, deep in contemplation of the intense happenings (or maybe they were trying to remember if they had switched the lights off) suddenly came to life at the end and yelled for more. This I can never understand. If you've enjoyed a football match you don't demand they play on after the final whistle. I know the encore is usually optimistically built into the setlist but I always feel enough is enough even if it's the most fantastic gig ever and so I retired.
Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable evening even though I didn't win the raffle, the prize of which was a ticket for any JNE gig the next one of which just happens to be this lunchtime (1:00pm) at the Lit & Phil where Tori will do a duo set with pianist Alcyona Mick.

Next Thursday (June 20), at the Black Swan, JNE present a concert by the Durham University Big Band (8:00pm).
Lance
Photos.

2 comments :

Chris Kilsby said...

I followed my own advice and went to this gig too. After hearing the recorded album multiple times, it was a joy to hear the 3-D, technicolour version! A full-voiced master class taking us to Tenerife and USA and back, with exquisite and inventive music from all three players.

Lance is right about Tim Giles' prominent role - I thought the music overall was very rhythmically founded, intricate and intriguing! While Tim did play ppp (brushes,cowbells...) he also cut loose to ff, and where we were sitting we could have done with bass and sax higher up in the mix at times.

My CD review suggested the band weren't for "hard blowing", but the extended versions of the songs last night proved me (gloriously) wrong. Altogether a great night out, especially for my young companions (one of whom has the privilege of Tim's tuition at LCoM).

BTW It's very kind, but nonsense, for Lance to bracket me with John Fordham, the jazz critic non pareil, massive in knowledge and style, who has clearly recognized the qualities of Tori's work amidst the rest of the burgeoning UK jazz scene.

Lance said...

You're too modest Chris! Having said that, I didn't say "equally respected" when I bracketed you with Fordham. Plus, as we can't afford to pay our reviewers with filthy lucre, compliments or an occasional glass of Adams Ale are the alternatives.

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