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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

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Kurt Rosenwinkel Bandit 65 @ Sage Gateshead - September 28

Kurt Rosenwinkel (guitar, electronics); Tim Motzer (guitar, guitar synth, electronics); Gintas Janusonis (drums, percussion, electronics)
(Review by Russell)

Bandit 65 has been described as a 'post-jazz sonic trio'. The box office name is Kurt Rosenwinkel, the guitarist's lower profile co-leaders - Tim Motzer, guitar, Gintas Janusonis, drums - are deserving of equal billing but, hey, this is showbusiness. Other than concert appearances in London this Sage Gateshead performance was Rosenwinkel's first British gig! Considering the guitarist has been active on the jazz (post-jazz?) scene for the best part of thirty years it was a long overdue visit to these shores.
Two sets (2 x 60 mins) with little in the way of interaction with the audience (it was fully forty-five minutes before Rosenwinkel spoke), Bandit 65 created a series of improvised 'electronic landscapes' featuring stunning musicianship from the trio. Post-jazz? The much derided 'prog rock'? One thing is for certain - Kurt Rosenwinkel possesses unparalleled technique. Your correspondent has heard many of the contemporary guitar greats - McLaughlin, Scofield, Di Meola, Lagrène, the list goes on - and none of them could/would put the man from Pennsylvania in the shade. One or two half-decent guitarists were in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall to hear for themselves, it's a fair bet their jaws dropped. Don't give up lads, there's hope yet! 

Rosenwinkel didn't bother to offer titles, suggesting everything they were doing was wholly improvised. Well, yes, but such was the trio's breathtaking precision that it couldn't be other than agreed frameworks were in place. Tim Motzer's electro-acoustic looping wizardry alongside Gintas Janusonis's constantly shifting drum patterns and electronic interventions primed the canvas for Rosenwinkel to apply dashing, daring, spellbinding flourishes.  

A first set blues groove with a samba beat recalled Bandit 65's 2017 album Caipi and second set Rosenwinkel's bluesy solo rode atop Motzer's insistent, soulful, synthesised basslines. As the evening drew to a close Rosenwinkel apologised for not having any hard copy CDs with him but suggested we look out for the band's next release due on October 11 on his own Heartcore label. Rosenwinkel left us with this observation: Everything we do is to meditate on the common good
Russell

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