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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sat 04: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Square, Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00. Xmas party (rescheduled from early December).

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 09: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session now monthly, next one Thursday 2nd Feb, then first Thursday in the month thereafter.

Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.

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 03, 2020

Joe Stilgoe Trio - Live stream @ Ronnie Scott's - Sept. 3

Joe Stilgoe (piano/vocals); Tom Farmer (bass); Ben Reynolds (drums)

Circumstances decreed I only managed a small part of this set by that fine singer, songwriter, vocalist Joe Stilgoe but I thoroughly enjoyed what I heard. Maybe this wasn't such a bad thing as, unlike actual gigs where the enthusiasm of the crowd sweeps you along in its wake to the extent that you could stay there forever wallowing in the prevailing mood, a live stream isn't quite like that unless you're having a house party.



I came in on Wichita Lineman. I never dreamed that, back in the day, that I'd hear the old Glen Campbell hit performed at a jazz gig but, there you go and, just as the songs of the pre-war era became the staple fare of the jazz musician, so the popular songs of a later era are also, gradually, entering into the repertoire.

This was further emphasised by the old Dionne Warwick favourite Do You Know the Way to San Jose? Stilgoe putting his stamp on the songs with both voice and piano.

I may have heard better singers and better pianists but combined there are few, if any who do it better. Most of the time I tend to think why don't they stick to what they do best? Joe Stilgoe is the exception.

The Rhythm of Life has been done in many different formats but this version I think was quite unique. It centred around Farmer's bass with Stilgoe forsaking the piano for some hand-clapping with Reynolds on tambourine and shaker.

A couple of impressive, unaccompanied, originals; My Favourite Cinema and Seaside led to What's Up? and the show finished on a high with Yes It's True.

Joe is, fingers crossed, back at Ronnie's in November for a real, actual live show with a socially distanced audience. Well worth making the effort.
Lance

2 comments :

Charlie Smith (on F/b). said...

Really great set, and a great trio. Ben Reynolds played sublimely.

Ben Reynolds (on F/b). said...

Thanks Charlie!

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