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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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

Saturday, March 27, 2021

Jazz at Lincoln Center: Voices of Freedom - Mar. 26

(Screenshot by Russell)
Betty Carter Billie Holiday Abbey Lincoln Nina Simone

A celebration of four iconic figures presented by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. At intervals three singers would join the ensemble during a performance of some fifty minutes. Trombonist Chris Crenshaw assumed the role of MD and 'scriptwriter', the orchestra's personnel remarkably stable over a decade and more. 

(Screenshot by Russell)
This was the orchestra's first performance at the prestigious New York City concert hall since February 2020, a venue Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO like to call 'The House of Swing'. Live streaming to upwards of seven hundred online patrons, Melanie Charles was the first of three vocalists to join the band. Backlash Blues as sung by Nina Simone, arranged for Ms Charles by trumpeter Marcus Printup, with Ted Nash, tenor sax, featuring in an exchange with Printup. 

(Screenshot by Russell)
Betty Carter's Droppin' Things (arr. Crenshaw) brought Ashley Pezzotti to the stage. Emotive, bold, Ms Pezzotti is likely to be able to handle operatic material. The third of the evening's vocalists, Shenel Johns, sang Freedom Day, as performed by Abbey Lincoln on Max Roach's We Insist! album. Ms Johns impressed, big time! 


The band (all chairs occupied by stellar musicians) didn't get much of an opportunity to stretch out, but, what a band! A muted Marsalis momentarily growled, Victor Goines did have a blow, and drummer Obed Calvaire, surrounded by reams of sheet music, briefly broke free to craft a fine solo. Wynton Marsalis, the driving force behind the LCJO, arranged Strange Fruit for our three vocalists. It proved to be an uplifting experience as Marsalis' arrangement, perhaps inspired by Mingus' Fables of Faubus, presented an interesting reading of Billie Holiday's historic song. Russell
                                   
Melanie Charles, Shenel Johns, Ashley Pezzotti (vocals); LCJO: Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Printup, Kenny Rampton, Ryan Kisor (trumpets); Walter Blanding, Sherman Irby, Ted Nash, Paul Nedzela, Victor Goines (reeds); Chris Crenshaw, Vincent Gardner, Elliot Mason (trombones); Dan Nimmer (piano); Carlos Henriquez (double bass); Obed Calvaire (drums)
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