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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18069 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 390 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (May 222).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 11:30am & 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 1:30pm. Free.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

Mon 26: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 26: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Bold Big Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.00. & £10.00.
Tue 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Front St., Rothbury NE65 7UT.7:30pm. £12.00.; £10.00. adv. from Tully’s (opp. venue).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: That’s the Blues, Dad.
Thu 29: Nova.sol + Mikoudi @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Thu 29: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, blues etc.

p>Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 30: Rivkala @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 30: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Middleton & Tonbridge Village Hall. 7:30pm.

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

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Update on Sarah Moule's Stormy Emotions

 (Press release)

‘Moule captures every nuance of the late great lyricist’s words, beautifully set by Simon Wallace’ Dave Gelly, The Observer

‘Long established as one of the best jazz singers in the country’   Helen Mayhew JazzFM (UK)

This is an equilateral triangle that is just so perfectly balanced – words, music, voice. Each one enhancing the other with some icing on the cake from Wallace’s piano, Lockheart, Price, Cawood, bassists Hutton and Malcolm and drummers Robinson and Youngs’ Lance Liddle, Bebopspokenhere

‘Sarah Moule has a voice that inspires and comforts at the same time. The quality of her vocals makes you realize all is well in the jazz world…Altogether a simply wonderful album’  Sammy Stein, SomethingElse

On Wednesday 3rd May Sarah Moule’s acclaimed new album Stormy Emotions (33JAZZ285) is released on download.  It comprises 12 songs, 10 of which are first recordings of songs by American lyricist, Fran Landesman and British composer Simon Wallace.  Widely lauded as Moule’s best work to date, she captures every nuance of the late great lyricist’s words, beautifully set by Simon Wallace’ (Dave Gelly, The Observer). 

Stormy Emotions, is Sarah’s 5th album an uplifting collection of songs explores themes of Time and Love.  In eighteen years spent working with Simon and Fran, Sarah developed a uniquely close relationship to their material.   Born in New York in 1927, Landesman’s lyrics have been sung by great artists including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan and Barbra Streisand and with this collection, including ten previously unrecorded songs, Sarah will have introduced forty-five Landesman/Wallace songs to the world.

'I got lucky meeting Simon. That he married Sarah Moule was a bonus.
She's the jazz singer par excellence.'  Fran Landesman

In addition to releasing the album as a download, Moule and Wallace are premiering a series of 12 videos in track order on Moule’s Youtube Channel starting on 3rd May with the album opener Nothing Is Mine Now.                              

With the welcome return of live performance they have a live launch gig on Wednesday 30th June at PizzaExpress Jazz Club, London with a band led by Wallace (piano) and featuring Neville Malcom (bass), Paul Robinson (drums) and special album guest (Nigel Price). 

Recorded in their studio in SE London amidst the challenges of 2020, the album features a group of Sarah and Simon's long-time musical collaborators: bassists Mick Hutton and Neville Malcolm, drummers Paul Robinson and Rod Youngs, guitarists Nigel Price and Charlie Cawood, and saxophonist Mark Lockheart.

The title track was written on the day Fran and Simon met.  Eighteen years later, on the day Fran passed away, they finished Nothing Is Mine Now, the album's opening track.

Sarah spent six years as featured vocalist with The John Wilson Orchestra before becoming a solo recording artist and releasing her first two albums on Linn Records and two further highly acclaimed albums on Red Ram Records. 

When Simon met Fran in 1993 he had recently returned from 3 years touring worldwide with the Lindsay Kemp Company and was writing music for TV shows including Absolutely Fabulous and French and Saunders.  For the next eighteen years the couple got together every week to write producing a catalogue of over 300 songs.

Tracklisting

1   Nothing Is Mine Now

2   Are We Just Having Fun?

3   Never That’s When

4   Close To Tears

5 A Magician’s Confession

6   Truly Unruly

7   After The Fall

8   On Hold/Living In Limbo

9   Time Is The Beast

10 The Long Arm Of Love

11  Fools Gold

12  Stormy Emotions

Mick Hutton double bass (tracks 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), Neville Malcolm double bass (1, 2, 5, 6), Paul Robinson drums  (3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), Rod Youngs drums (1, 2, 5, 6),  Nigel Price guitar (1, 6, 7, 8) Mark Lockheart saxophone and bass clarinet (2, 4, 9).

Dates:

Livestream every Sunday evening at 7.30pm

3rd June  East Grinstead Jazz Club

30th June ALBUM LAUNCH  at Pizza Express Jazz Club, London

28th July  Splashpoint Jazz Club, Eastbourne

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