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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

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

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

Monday, October 19, 2020

Nigel Price Organ Trio w. Vasilis Xenopoulos @ The Globe - October 18

Nigel Price (guitar); Vasilis Xenopoulos (tenor sax); Ross Stanley (Hammond B3); Joel Barford (drums).

The groove was in the moment they hit Wet and Dry - rock solid cement. They soloed at length before going into 4's or was it 8's or was it 1024's? It didn't matter - they were digging deep and the socially distanced audience were also digging deep - and this was just the opener! Come rain or come shine it couldn't get any better than this - could it?

It could!

The evening was about Wes - Montgomery that is - and I'd like to think that the late great guitarist would have been pleased with the rearrangement of his tunes. They certainly worked for me.

Jingles, a number Wes recorded many times, was announced as a samba but, this wasn't just another samba, this was the real deal. Joel Barford kicked it off like as though there was no tomorrow - where has this guy been hiding all my life? Okay, I know, he wasn't born for most of it but he is now and it showed as he set the scene for some paint-stripping guitar, blistering tenor and some nut-cracking B3 that had Karen doing the moves (within government guidelines) as she served the socially distanced tables.

If actual dancing had been allowed then couples would surely have been having a smooch to Dreamsville before the band went into Twisted Blues - a boogaloo! I needed a reality check. Was I in downtown Philly or maybe in a bar off Central Avenue in L.A.? No, I was in Newcastle's West End - The Globe, HQ of the Jazz Co-op.

I think I'd be hard-pressed to hear anything better outside of Birdland or Ronnie's and, as it happens, these guys are playing Ronnie's this coming Thursday. Unmissable.

I could write so much more but my hands are a bit fragile after doing so much clapping! However, all is not lost, Vasi wasn't the only ace tenorman in the house. Nick Gould added his own report on Facebook which I've purloined and added as a sort of coda to a fabulous evening.

Lance.

----- 

"I didn’t realise just how much I have missed live music and how important it is to me till tonight. I made a trip to Newcastle to the Globe which is a great venue that is a co-op run by volunteers.
Since my last visit earlier in the year to play with JazzMain the venue has had a lot of work done with a new stage, upgrades to the sound system, and now gigs are streamed as well. It is great to see venues adapt and make good of the current difficulties.
It was great to hear a live gig again,
Nigel Price
has worked very hard to arrange his current tour. The band features
Vasilis Xenopoulos
on tenor, Ross Stanley on Hammond with 2 Leslie speakers and excellent drummer Joel Barford.
They were superb, the first tune a contrafact of Come Rain and Come Shine penned by Nigel called Wet and Dry kicked things off nicely and we were treated to an evening of fabulous jaws from one of the best jazz groups in the U.K. today.
The set was played with energy, enthusiasm and superb musicianship.
The audience loved it and all had sore hands with all the clapping by the end of the night.
They play at Ronnie's main stage next Thursday.
Great also to see some friends from the North East too. it almost felt normal."

Nick

4 comments :

Anonymous said...

Even if we hadn’t been starved of live music for the last 7 months this would have been a an amazing gig, I am a big fan of these guys. For me they are absolutely the pinnacle of UK Jazz.

Every member of the group a great player and soloist in their own right and working together as a team to produce fabulous music.

Every tune a winner.

Thanks to the band and the Jazz Co-op for making it happen, a memorable evening for everyone in the room.

Nick Gould

Patti (on F/b) said...

Great photo, Debra - and what a storming hot gig this was! We have to thank you and the Globe team so much for the way you've organised the music in a Covid safe setting for us jazz lovers. xx

Debra (on F/b) said...

Thanks Patti. That's Lance's photo not mine! There's a whole team of people that have made this possible at The Globe - it's been a pleasure to cooperate with them & see some great music x

Lance said...

C'est la vie! Looking forward to the next one with David Gray - I've seen the set list (my lips are sealed) and it looks to be another brilliant night at the northeast home of live jazz.

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