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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. SOLD OUT!
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.

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

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Album review: Amber Weekes – The Gathering

Well here it is, the first of the Christmas CDs. I approached it with some trepidation, would it be the usual sentimental offering that singers seem to feel obliged to issue at this time of year? No problem, this CD is just that bit different from the rest, no doubt helped by the loveliness of Ms Weekes' voice, which has a beautiful warm and tender tone. We get nine standards, including one I'd never heard before, plus the final track, The Gathering, an original with lyrics by our singer.

The song I didn't know is Some Children See Him, a truly poignant lyric about how children picture the Christ child as one of their own race ('with almond eyes' or 'dark as day'). The song opens with a haunting tune of drums and bagpipes (yes, bagpipes!) and ends with a long orchestral coda. Another poignant song is I'll Be Home For Christmas, enhanced by a short guitar solo. Poignant because I thought of all the people who won't be able to meet at Christmas this year.

The Christmas Waltz is made a little different by Ms Weekes' rather flirtatious spoken remarks at the end; Winter Wonderland is a swinger with brief sax comments during the song; The Gathering reminds us that Christmas is a time to gather and forget resentments of the past. My Romance becomes a slow wonderfully out-of time ballad.

CV: Hails from Los Angeles. Parents both singers. Studied with many teachers, including Sue Raney. Sung in countless clubs and venues in Southern California. Performed at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Recently issued an album Pure Imagination.

Available from the usual suspects. This would make a good Christmas gift, or you could buy it as a gift to yourself!

Ann Alex

The Christmas Waltz; I'll Be Home For Christmas; My Romance; I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus; Some Children See Him; What Are you Doing New Year's Eve?; Winter Wonderland; Silent Night; Let It Snow; The Gathering 

Amber Weekes (vocals); musicians on various tracks: Josh Nelson, Tony Campodonico, Eddy Olivieri (piano, Rhodes); John B Williams, Adam Cohen, Kevin Brandon (bass); Fritz Wise, Sinclair Lott, Nathaniel Scott (drums); Paul Jackson Jr, Doug MacDonald, Jacques Lesure (guitar); Rickey Woodward (sax); Andrew Carney (trumpet); Richard Heath, Munyugo Jackson (perc); Ernie Fields Jr (bagpipes); Gregory Cook (celeste); Nio Wilson, JoAnn Tominaga, Marcus D Cargill, Gregory Cook, (background vocals); Mark Cargill (violin, string arrangements, conductor strings and horns). 

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