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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

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! TO BE RESCHEDULED!
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.

Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 12 noon-2:00pm (two sets). £12.00. admission (card or cash at the door). Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums). Note change of venue, no longer at Mrs M’s as advertised, the concert will be in the Old Library (Bishop Auckland Jazz’s regular venue). Important! It’s a ‘BYOB’ arrangement - ie bring your own booze (and/or tea, coffee, soft drinks).
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:00pm. ‘Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Balkan & More!’.
Fri 31: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ White Room, Stanley. 6:30pm. £10.00 + bf. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.
Fri 31 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Wylam Institute. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf.
Fri 31: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Country blues duo.
Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £TBC. Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 31: Swannek + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Swannek’s new single launch gig. Pilgrim, formerly Hoochie Coochie.

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

Thursday, September 24, 2020

Album review: Tenement Jazz Band - Tenement Jazz Band Goes South

Chuck Deerness (trumpet); Paddy Darley (trombone); Steven Feast (reeds); John Youngs (banjo, guitar); Doug Kemp (double bass)


The Tenement Jazz Band came out of nowhere. It was at the beginning of 2018 when the band first registered on BSH's radar. A matter of weeks later the Edinburgh based outfit made a first visit to Tyneside. On that occasion Prohibition Bar was crowded and subsequent appearances on Tyneside and a sold out concert at Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club enhanced a rapidly growing, word-of-mouth reputation.
New Orleans Wiggle documented the Tenements' early days (the EP was recorded at The Maltings, Berwick) and now there is a CD to enjoy. Four of the five Tenements are thirtysomethings with recent recruit Steven Feast of an earlier generation. The Tenement Jazz Band Goes South conjours an image of a road trip to the Deep South (NOLA and all that), in reality the five piece band made a succession of raids south of the border into England, recording gigs along the way. A brief introduction hears John Youngs speaking to an audience - at an unidentified venue - and then it's into some forty five minutes of music. 

Twelve familiar tracks help make a review a somewhat easier task with favourite, if not definitive, versions having long-since been laid down by many of the jazz greats of the last one hundred years. Recorded in February and March, a matter of weeks before lockdown, from the opening South to the album closing Weary Blues, the Tenements' frontline of Charles 'Chuck' Deerness (trumpet), Paddy Darley (trombone) and Steven Feast (reeds), ably supported by Sassenach John Youngs (guitar, banjo) and string bassist Doug Kemp, come up trumps time and time again. Solos, ensemble work, the Tenements dig into the music of the pioneers. Deerness is a fine lead player, Darley a mischievous presence adept at shaking it up, and Feast's agile yet persuasive clarinet frequently cuts through.  

Canal Street BluesMilenburg JoysBaratariaAt a Georgia Camp Meeting - it could be these are favourite numbers of the BSH reader, if they are, check out the Tenement Jazz Band, there is every chance they will become your new favourite band. What's more, favourite bands of yore, are, for the most part, no more, whereas the Tenements are very much alive and kicking. Post Covid - there will be such a time! - catch the Tenement Jazz Band at your local jazz club. Once you've heard the band at a gig you'll want to buy the album and, if you can't wait 'til then, email the band for details of how to get your copy of Tenement Jazz Band Goes South at: tenementjazzband@gmail.com. It's a winner!                
Russell

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