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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Lewis Watson Quartet @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Latin jazz/top-rated dance bands.
Thu 06: Rose Room @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 06: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Helen Barber (vocals) & Alex Moon (piano).
Thu 06: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. Guests: Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Donna Hewitt (alto sax); Kevin Eland (trumpet); Graham Thompson (keys); Ron Smith (bass). 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session is now monthly, first Thursday in the month.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Old Lowlight, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields NE30 1JE. 7:00pm. £15.00. + bf. www.oldlowlight.co.uk. SOLD OUT!
Fri 07: Stuart Turner Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Jazz, blues, Americana etc.
Fri 07: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 07: Rose Room @ Wylam Institute. 8:00pm. £19.67.
Fri 07: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 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

Saturday, July 27, 2019

Malta Jazz Festival 2019 - Nights July 18

(Review by Steve T)

My love affair with Malta began when I read Tom Holland's Fortress Malta about its role in the Second World War. Shortly before the end of the war, Churchill arrived on Malta to award the island the George Cross. As someone who knows a thing or two about punching above my weight, even compared to Britain, Malta during the war was like Little Dave taking on a veritable army of Goliaths.

So it is with the Jazz Festival, which stepped up a whole bunch of gears on the Thursday night, with a series of free concerts.

The evening began in front of two cafés with the entrance to a food hall between them. After an early trip to check it out, we managed to book a prime spot in one of the cafés and by the time we returned, rows of seats had been laid out in front of the stage. On stage, happening German drummer Jochen Rueckert with an all-star band, featuring one of the big names in the current guitar renaissance; Mike Moreno no less. Also Chris Cheek, listed as tenor sax, but who actually played more soprano, and bass player Matt Penman.

Liam Gallagher was playing a free concert on the island that night, and when Rueckert thanked everybody for choosing him instead of Liam, I was surprised and a little perturbed at how few people laughed.

The prevalence of soprano was a total breath of fresh air and this was a sax/guitar front-line rather than guitar taking the role of piano in the rhythm section, Moreno threw in plenty of new-fangled New York chords and flight of finger soloing. Rueckert also plays with Lage Lund so he clearly knows his leading modern jazz guitarists. His own playing was busy but understated and highly effective, only taking one short solo during the final piece. 

I wondered if life could get any better than this just as the café delivered the wrong meal to our table!

Next up was Cuban bandleader Joel Hierrezuelo, just round the corner in front of the Law Courts. We'd heard a bit of the sound-check which had made me far more excited by it than hitherto. Malta seems to have an affinity with the heavy percussion of South American and Cuban music and I had no doubt that drummer Lukmil Perez would do the work of three wo/men.

Hierrezuelo sings and plays guitar, though the bulk of the soloing fell to a bandmate playing acoustic, and mighty impressively too.         

The final set of the evening was just down the road in the Pjazza Teatru Rjal, a large theatre visible from the location of the afternoon gigs, though you'd never realise it's there. The previous night it had featured the BBC Concert Orchestra.

I'm not sure how much of this we missed but it seemed quite short, which was probably enough for me. The Big Band were hot, but guest singer Joe Cutajar was subsequently described to me as a pub singer, which I thought unfair though, complete with trilby, it was a little corny. Nevertheless, classic Sinatra is always welcome and we got Fly me to the Moon and You Make me Feel so Young, some Nat King Cole while, in another stroke of luck, we missed the promised Michael Bublé. However, it was probably at its best with the singer watching from the sidelines. 

It all finished nicely in time to catch the last ferry across the harbour - one of the best natural harbours in the world and littered with history - to Sliema and our hotel.  
Steve T

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