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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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

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, August 05, 2019

Dave Hignett & Friends @ the Globe Jazz Bar - August 4

Dave Hignett (trumpet/flugel); Niall Armstrong (tenor sax); Kevin Wright (keys); Conor Hignett (bass guitar); Dom Neeson (drums) + Barbara Hignett (vocals); Sophie Speed (alto sax).
(Review by Lance).

Swinging hard bop with a touch of funk and jazz rock. Blue Note is alive and well with an ace quintet plus 2.

The gaffa, and the term is appropriate, blew trumpet as if it were the eve of Armageddon with the thunder and lightning outside suggesting it might well be!  Yes, Gaffa Hignett had it, along with the wandering Roland pedal, taped.

Alongside him, Niall Armstrong whom I tend to associate more with baritone rather than tenor sax (catch him on the bigger instrument with Saxophonics) was an ideal frontline partner - think Hank Mobley or Benny Golson with the Jazz Messengers.

The rhythm section were all faces new to me. Kevin Wright played the proverbial blinder with ne'er a chart to guide him. Conor Hignett did the business on bass guitar and drummer Neeson has emerged from within the ranks of the Tyne Valley Big Band led by Dave Hignett as a musician going places.

Another Tyne Valley alumni was Sophie Speed - her dexterity on alto attested to the aptness of her surname. Sophie held her own when answering the call.

Finally, yet another Hignett in the form of Barbara whose distinctive vocal style made the earth move! This girl takes no prisoners.

A good mix of standards: Softly as in a Morning Sunrise; St. Thomas; Route 66 (vocal); Sway (vocal); Mack the Knife (vocal + Sophie); Sweet Love of Mine (Woody Shaw); Chameleon (+ Sophie); I Don't Know Why (vocal - a Norah Jones number sung with just the rhythm section); All of Me (vocal).  

A short interval - outside the storm raged - nobody was leaving, nor would they have done if the sun was shining!

The band got back on their heads for There Will Never be Another You followed by a number titled Corey Wong by American funk band Vulfpek proving a song doesn't have to be 80 - year - old to blow jazz on!

Barbara did go back through the decades for Lady is a Tramp but with the aid of Sophie the band moved forward for Herbie Hancock's Cantaloupe Island.

Dom was featured on the Whiplash version of Caravan which saw the drummer applying the whip as if he were Frankie Dettori riding a camel to victory. The other five weren't caught short either (Sophie stayed aboard).

The evening finished with Barbara and an approximate version of Honeysuckle Rose and an all-out blast on Hallelujah I Just Love Him So.

And, you know what? It had stopped (well almost) raining!
Lance
PHOTOS

1 comment :

Dave said...

Thanks Lance! Not bad for our first outing!

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