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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. THIS WEEK ONLY JAMES BIRKETT (guitar)!
Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

MARCH 2025

Sat 01: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £15.00. Day 2/3.
Sat 01: TJ Johnson Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Get your funk on! Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ The Watch House, Cullercoats. 2:00-3:30pm. Free.
Sat 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 5:15pm or 5:45pm (times tbc). Part of the Alnwick Story Festival's music fringe programme: Free.
Sat 01: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Blues band.
Sat 01: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Jack & Jay’s Vintage Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Tuesday, March 03, 2020

CD Review: Sinne Eeg & The Danish Radio Big Band – We've Just Begun

(By Ann Alex)

Sinne Eeg is a bona fide jazz singer in her native Denmark and has also performed throughout Europe and the USA. This, her ninth album, shows her to be a talented singer with a darkish alluring voice and an inherent sense of swing. Her self-titled, 2003 debut album, preceded more critically acclaimed work in 2007 and 2008.


Eeg’s style and tone reminds me of our own Ruth Lambert, which shows how lucky we are to have such good women singers on our doorstep. Four standards, a tune from a Danish film, and five tracks where Ms Eeg is the composer and/or lyricist offer an appealing and varied approach.

We are straight in with the title track, a fast snappy love song, a tenor solo, and a neat duet of call and response between piano and voice. The other originals are, Like A Song, a slower jazz waltz with a prominent bass contribution; Those Ordinary Things, a touching love song about how the lover misses the ordinary things when her partner has left her; Samba em Comum has both Portuguese and English lyrics, fine guitar and lively clonky-sounding percussion. The CD is skilfully rounded off with an uplifting gospel-tinged song of hope and optimism, To a New Day, which includes a skilled trumpet solo.


Two of the standards are new to me. We have Talking To Myself - a snappy song with walking bass accompaniment - Detour Ahead, with a virtuosic flute solo from Nicolai Schultz and Comes Love, a real swinger with scat. I have problems with  My Favorite Things. I don't know how it entered the jazz repertoire with those irritating words, something to do with Coltrane I guess. Thank goodness that Ms Eeg's performance with the band just about saves the song, with a spirited rendering of the part about the dog biting, a fast bass line and a drum solo. The Danish film tune is Hvorfor Er Lykken Sa Lunefuld, a slinky swing on the theme of the brevity of joy, sung in Danish.

The band themselves do a more than competent job with many short solos from the horns. Several of the tracks begin with bass and light drum accompaniment, with the band joining the mix on the second chorus. The bass playing is, not only interesting, but also exceptional.

I must confess to a prejudice towards this album in view of my Danish ancestry (Danish great grandfather) so I have taken delight in listing the names of the band, trying to convince myself that I speak the language, which I don't.
Ann Alex

The CD was available to the world from February 21. See www.sinnemusic.com

Sinne Eeg (vocals/composer/arranger); Nikolai Bogelund (conductor) Dave Vreuls, Thomas Kjaergaard, Mads la Cour, Gerard Presencer,  Lars Vissing (trumpets); Peter Dahlgren, Vincent Nilsson, Kevin Christensen, Annette Saxe, Jakob Munck  (trombones); Peter Fuglsang, Nicolai Schultz, Hans Ulrik, Anders Banke, Frederick Menzies, Anders Gaardmand, Jan Harbeck (saxes); Henrik Gunde (piano); Per Gade (guitar); Kaspar Vadsholt (bass); Seren Frost (drums).
Guest Musicians on 1 track: Rune Harder Olesen, Luis Conte (percussion); Sille Gronberg, Birgitte Soojin, Ninna Milner-Juel, Maja Hanghoj, Alice Carreri (backing vocals).

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