Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 2026)

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

18897 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 761 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 11.) 40.

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

From This Moment On

September.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 17: Front Porch Blues @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 17: Miles 100 @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. Jack Courtney (trumpet); Sue Ferris (tenor sax); Tom Atkinson (guitar); Alan Law (piano); Deon Krishnan (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums). A night of Miles Davis.
Thu 17: Amphitrio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £7.00. Andrei Petrache (piano); Mike Alex (double bass); Philip Goron (drums).

Fri 18: Danny Lownes’ Hot Club @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Mark Williams Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 18: Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00., £5.00. student.
Fri 18: Rivkala + Beccy Sloan @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.

Sat 19: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal. All welcome.
Sat 19: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00-5:00pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner: Nina Simone. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 19: Ray Stubbs’ R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free.

Sat 19: Tees Bay Swing Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal. All welcome.

Sun 20: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 20: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.

Mon 21: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 21: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. Coltrane centenary.

Thursday, January 28, 2021

Live streaming from Jack's Place - Jan. 27

Jamie Brownfield (trumpet); Andrzej Baranek (keyboards); Ed Harrison (double bass); Jack Cotterill (drums)

A live stream from the comfort of Jack Cotterill's rented studio. As it's a working environment the quartet was operating within government guidelines. Drummer Cotterill and trumpeter Jamie Brownfield are often to be found in pre-swing era style outfits, this evening they moved on fifteen or so years to play, for the most part, some swing-to-bop material in the company of bop-to-modernists Andrzej Baranek and Ed Harrison. 

This first live stream session from Jack's temporary space encountered minor sound issues which were duly rectified - we were four numbers in before the guys realised Cotterill's mic wasn't switched on! What's more, our bandleader freely admitted he didn't know who composed this tune or that tune! The first tune, Monk's Green Chimneys, Cotterill had never heard, let alone played before. Much chatter, principally between drummer and trumpeter, led to Cotterill, on more than one occasion, guessing Wynton Marsalis had written the tune. He got one right as the quartet played the LCJO leader's Big Fat Hen featuring Herlin Riley's dominant New Orleans drum pattern. 

Remarkably, Cotterill had never previously made stage announcements. This was his debut! BSH last heard Cotterill live at the Keswick Jazz and Blues Festival, Brownfield at Saltburn Jazz Club, and Baranek and Harrison on Gaz Hughes' nationwide Art Blakey tour. This first weekly (Wednesdays) session roamed freely across a swing-to-bop-to-blues landscape - Parisian Thoroughfare (Cotterill confessing it was a difficult chart, Brownfield handling the Clifford Brown part), Bebop - with an excursion into Armstrong territory on Sleepy Time Down South. The closing number went unannounced. At its conclusion, as Brownfield looked for the live stream's 'off' button, Cotterill declared if anyone could guess the name of the tune they would win a prize. Log on to Cotterill's Facebook page next week (Feb 3) at eight o'clock to a) find out the tune's title, and b) discover what the prize will be!

Set list: Green ChimneysI've Never Been in Love BeforeBig Fat HenParisian ThoroughfareSleepy Time Down SouthToo Marvelous for WordsBebop; ?.

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