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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Gregory Porter + Jo Harrop @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm. Support act: Jo Harrop!

Tue 13: ???

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Recital (stage 2): Leah Kirk (voice) @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 3:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Jerron Paxton @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.20. Excellent country blues multi-instrumentalist.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. BACK IN BUSINESS, all welcome!

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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

Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Sugaray Rayford + Radikal Queen @ The Cluny - Nov. 12


Sugaray Rayford (vocals); Aaron Liddard (tenor sax); Giles Straw (trumpet); Gino Matteo (guitar); Drake 'Munkihaid' Shining (keyboards, vocals); Allen Markel (bass guitar); Lavell Jones (drums).
(Review by Russell)

The Jumpin' Hot Club boys know their stuff and, in association with the Cluny, booked Sugaray Rayford to deliver an electrifying performance. A first visit to these shores by the larger-than-life character from California generated considerable nationwide interest and Newcastle upon Tyne's blues-soul fans turned out in force. 

The prospect of Rayford delivering the goods momentarily looked in doubt when, half an hour before the doors were due to open, news filtered through that, earlier in the day, Rayford and his six-piece band had arrived at their destination...Newcastle under Lyme! Pointing the tour bus north the headline act arrived on Tyneside with little time to spare. 

Big man Rayford called the shots, his band razor-sharp, this was the business! Don't Regret a Mile sang Rayford. A poverty-stricken childhood, singing in church, escaping his lot via service in the US Marine Corps, turning to music - as the man said: Don't Regret a Mile. From deep soul to crying the blues with a rhythm 'n' blues shuffle or two, Rayford gave it his all. Shirt drenched through - he wrang it out on stage! - the 6'5" frontman worked hard and in return his band worked hard for him. 

The man at the back behind the traps - Mr Lavell Jones - produced a memorable powerhouse performance. A left hand snap to die for, Jones' band mates, including bassist Allen Markel, hung off every beat. Guitarist Gino Matteo could play it all - r 'n' b riffs, BB King licks, the lot. The horns - Aaron Liddard, tenor, Giles Straw, trumpet - blew in all the right places, never overbearing. The man conjuring Booker T, Jimmy Smith and his own fine sound hadn't been feeling too well but a committed Drake 'Munkihaid' Shining hung in there. And, if we were to believe Rayford, his keyboards man was taking his first drink in four years!

Fans out on the floor shouted for Troubles. Rayford said it wasn't in the set list. More voices called for the number. Rayford insisted they weren't going to play it. Instead the fan club got Time to Get Movin' from the Somebody Save Me CD, a powerful Cold Sweat and, another cut from Somebody Save MeYou and I. Sugaray Rayford made a whole lot of new friends in Newcastle upon Tyne, let's hope it isn't too long before he returns to see them again.      
         
Radikal Queen: Radikal Queen (vocals); April Olatunji (keyboards); Jimmy Brown (bass guitar); Lewis Brett (drums)  

Earlier, Radikal Queen played a short support set. The Tyneside based singer took to the stage alongside April Olatunji, keyboards, Jimmy Brown, bass, and drummer Lewis Brett. Songwriter, poet, artist, activist and more, Radikal Queen reworked the blues for a new beat generation.       
Russell

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