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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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 26, 2019

Ushaw Jazz Festival: Zoë Gilby Family Jazz All Stars - August 25


Zoë Gilby (vocals); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); Richard Brown (drums)
(Review by Russell)

A bank holiday weekend with, for once, glorious sunshine all the way. Where to take the kids? Shopping? The seaside? Nope, a sprawling country estate, that's where! No cries of: I'm bored! Can we go? Not when jazz means prizes!

Zoë Gilby's Family Jazz All Stars set up in the Francis Thompson Room at Ushaw College. Daddy...who was Francis Thompson? Er...I don't know, sit and listen to the jazz. Jazz? But I don't like...Listen, you could win a prize...

GASbook, Pannonica, Watching Sideways, there's many a string to Zoë Gilby's vocal art. To open the final day of this year's Ushaw Jazz Festival Ms Gilby brought along not just her jazz all stars, this was our APPJAG nominee's Family Jazz All Stars. We were sitting comfortably, let the story begin...

The Lady is a Tramp, the kids were diggin' it. Does anyone know what this is? enquired Gilby, pointing to one of Richard Brown's cymbals. RB looked puzzled, it was as if he hadn't seen one before and the big kids in the audience didn't have a clue. However, the very youngest knew, a forest of hands shot up keen to tell Ms Gilby that they knew the answer. And so the afternoon went on, the big kids clueless (dunce's hats donned) as the Bright Young Things (age 5-9) here at Ushaw waltzed off with all the prizes.

Juan Tizol's Caravan (RB's party-piece!) to a classy You Turned the Tables on Me, Ms Gilby's Teaching Assistants more than played the game - guitarist Mark Williams the principal (toned down!) soloist on this warm summer's afternoon. Drummer Brown and bass-playing side kick Andy Champion enjoyed the occasion (there would be little point if they didn't), sneeking in some nifty jazz chops stuff when the kids weren't looking. All the while Head Teacher Ms Gilby engaged with a room full of new jazz fans. Does anyone know what this part of Mark's guitar is called? The dunces sat mute as the smart kids piped up hoping to a win a goody bag. 

The Family Jazz All Stars' show is ideally suited to a festival audience (it's been a big hit elsewhere including the Gateshead International Jazz Festival and the London Jazz Festival) with the balance just about right - the kids vie for prizes and the big kids get to hear some jazz. Straight No Chaser, Nick Cave's Red Right Hand (one dunce thought the composer was Nick Drake!) and, to close the show, Harry Edison's Centrepiece. Day three at Ushaw was under way. 
Russell

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