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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

18069 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 390 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (May 222).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 11:30am & 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 1:30pm. Free.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

Mon 26: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 26: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.00. & £10.00.
Tue 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Front St., Rothbury NE65 7UT.7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. adv. from Tully’s (opp. venue).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: That’s the Blues, Dad.
Thu 29: Nova.sol + Mikoudi @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 29: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, blues etc.

p>Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Rivkala @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Middleton & Tonbridge Village Hall. 7:30pm.

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, February 08, 2020

Paris Review: Elie Martin-Charriere Group @ Le Baiser Sale – January 21 et Christophe Brunard Connexion @ MONK Taverne de Cluny - January 26


Elie Martin-Charriere (drums); Theo N'Guyen (saxophone); Martin Ferreyos (guitar); Roman Maresz (keyboards); Juan Villarrael (bass).

(Reviews by JC)

When Bob Dylan sang 'I lived with them on Montague Street/A basement down the stairs/There was music in the cafes at night/And revolution in the air' on Blood on the Tracks in 1975 he was probably talking about New Orleans but the same could be said about Paris in 2020.

The opportunity to spend a little time there was too good to miss even though the apartment was not in the basement but on the 3eme etage. However, there certainly was revolution in the air as the street the apartment was on was the main route from the Bastille to Place de la Republic and the scene of numerous marches.

Thousands of very angry public service workers would regularly take over both sides of the road throwing firecrackers and setting bins alight, watched by hundreds of seriously threatening riot police. It was very obvious that French workers are not going to allow Macron to reduce their pensions without a major fight.

As strikes meant the metro was off and there was no sign of le bus numero vingt-sept, it was shank's pony to get out and find the music in the cafes. This was no hardship though, as everybody knows walking around Paris is fabulous, even when dodging the various demonstrations - school kids, students, firemen, farmers on tractors and even ballet dancers outside the Royal Opera house. But the biggest risk to life and limb was the extra traffic in the cycle lanes where people had purloined any kind of wheeled transport they could get to move around: pedal bikes and electric bikes, push scooters and the latest electric versions, skateboards and hover boards and even police on roller skates.

Thankfully your erstwhile correspondent made it unscathed to Rue de Lombards which has no less than three different jazz clubs within soloing distance of each other - four, if you include the fact that Sunrise Sunset is two clubs in one; jazz upstairs and a funkier place down below - and I noticed that even the Irish pub on the street was advertising regular music sessions.

I was headed for Le Baiser Sale club ('the salty kiss' seems to be the polite translation) which the weekly Paris jazz guide had listed the category 'contemporary' beside the group leader's non-gender specific name (to English-speaking eyes anyway), Elie Martin-Charriere.  A singer maybe? piano player? No, it turned out to be a young (male) drummer with a group presenting a tribute to The Tony Williams Lifetime. Tony Williams formed the group in 1969, a mere 50 years ago - that's my kind of contemporary - and Martin-Charriere was born two years before Williams died - that's my kind of tribute artist.

I'm not over-familiar with the specific Lifetime oeuvre but I know the general jazz-rock fusion style and Martin-Charriere and his equally young guns powered into the music with real ferocity testing their already impressive techniques with some very fast playing. Martin Ferreyos on guitar demonstrated no little ability and much of the speed of the early McLaughlin and Juan Villarreal was very solid on bass but maybe lacked a little of the Joker-like grinning evil menace that Jack Bruce brought to both his demeanour and his playing. On keyboards Roman Maresz played some fine solos and leader Martin-Charriere performed with real assurance powering the band forward. Out front and centre, possibly the youngest member of the group, Theo N'Guyen, played some blistering sax with that easy confidence of youth. They produced a great sound. There was a small but appreciative audience of mainly young people at the gig and I wondered afterwards how many would now want to check out some Lifetime albums. I know I do.

Christophe Brunard (guitar); Julien Brunard (guitar/violin).

However, Paris to me always means the Hot Club de France of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli as it was the first LP I ever bought. Therefore my next foray found me in a place called MONK La Taverne de Cluny on the Left Bank (no relation to our Ouseburn venue as far as I know). Here Christophe Brunard and his son, Julien have a regular weekly gig in the bar ('gypsy' was the style indicator in my music guide). For the first set both were playing guitars, with Brunard jr. taking most of the main solos and he was an excellent musician rooted in the Hot Club style with fast, rippling, inventive solos but clearly showing a knowledge of later guitar developments. Brunard snr. provided much of the rhythmic chordal drive with added walking bass lines for good measure but also showing he was no slouch when it came to his turn to be out front.

In the second set Julien switched to violin to give a real touch of Reinhardt/Grappelli vibe and if anything he was even more accomplished on this instrument. He played with great technique and considerable emotional intensity. Again, the pair complemented each other beautifully and played (unsurprisingly) with a great deal of empathic musical understanding.

Although no titles were given in any language except 'musical' I was sure I recognised many of the pieces but as l'homme dit 'I never forget a tune but I've no idea what its name is'.
One thing I spotted about Julien is that he was wearing a tie-pin, a feature I have noticed with a number of jazz musicians, and in my experience a sign of a musician who pays close attention to both musical and sartorial details. Certainly true in this case.

Then it was back out in the night and a chance to participate in the adventure known as a late night Paris taxi drive, not because of demonstrations, but due to a number of reckless road-crossing revellers who had no idea how close they were to a possible life-changing experience (and I don't mean musical) as we zoomed past.
JC

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