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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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

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.

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, June 21, 2021

Sunday Night Jazz @ The Globe: Knats - June 20

(Photo by Lance)
Ferg Kilsby (trumpet); Josh Mitchell-Rayner (keyboards); Stan Woodward (bass); King David Ike-Elechi (drums).

Knats (don't ask me where they got the name from!) are a young, mega young, band and this was their first ever indoor gig although they had played an outdoor gig a couple of weeks back which Russell enthused over and which I felt the need to check out. 

There was an understandable degree of uncertainty about the first set but, hey, what do expect? They're treading the boards where many of the UK's premier jazz musicians have strutted their stuff - no pressure then - and it didn't, at least outwardly appear to faze them. Come the second set and they were firing on four!

Young Ferg on trumpet was already known to me - known as a promising 14/15 year old who'd shown up at jams as well as blowing with some family members on the patio during lockdown. Since then, he's moved from the patio to the woodshed and emerged as Freddie Hubbard or Lee Morgan. If Art Blakey had still been alive and recruiting Ferg would have been on Buhaina's radar.

(Photo by Lance)
King David - is that a name or a title? - has the Blakey drive as well as his own powerhouse approach. His extended solos possibly had the good folk in Gateshead across the river checking out the Richter Scale whilst those inside The Globe were full of appreciation for this, the latest in an ever increasing list of outstanding young drummers to appear in the region. 

Like  King D, the more modestly named frontman and bassist Stan, has just completed his A-levels and he proved his worth with rock solid support and solos as well as composing and arranging some of the pieces. Oh, and another thing, he's rather old fashioned in that he uses those appendages on the side of his head (ears) to tune up rather than some electronic device clipped to the headstock of his fretless bass. How long is it since you heard a musician say to the pianist "give me an A"? Nice to know the old order hasn't completely changed.

The pianist charged with supplying the aforementioned note, 17 year old Josh also, during the course of the evening, gave us the other 87 notes in various permutations. Another outstanding performer to look out for.

(Photo by Russell)
The material was full on, in your face, Jazz Messengers, Herbie Hancock, Miles, Weather Report and, of course, 'knaturally' - Knats. 

Music heard included: Afro Blue; All Blues; Red Room (Woodward original); Kind Folk (K. Wheeler); Resolution (Coltrane); West of the West (Christian Scott) plus music from the film Taxi Driver, a piece by Radiohead and, for the encore, which I had to miss due to the demands of public transport, an opus by Herbie Hancock. Lance.

Link re comment.

PS: When I arrived at the Jazz Co-op HQ my nerves were still as taut as an over-tuned violin E string having watched the highs and lows and, ultimately, the highs of Hartlepool United's penalty shootout out victory over Torquay United in the National League Play-off Final.

I've never experienced a game with so much drama - Alfred Hitchcock couldn't have scripted it better - and, if they turned it into a movie, tonight's music would be the perfect soundtrack - it was played with the same passion and intensity.

2 comments :

Chris Kilsby said...

Lance - thanks for review, which conjured up the mood of the night: for the record...
1. Knats name derives from Stan (backwards) and K for King!
2. Set- opened with Kack Bop (Knats original, on all streaming outlets) followed by Actual Proof (H. Hancock). Another original (Ferg) "Whilst We're Here" in the second set. Encore was Eye of the Hurricane (HH again)
3. A great night out (finally) courtesy of the amazing institution which is The Globe. Still trying to come back to earth....

Chris K

Chris Kilsby said...

Great review Lance - captured the excitement and intensity nicely! And what a great job the Globe did on the night - the Sunday jazz live plus streaming series more than keeping up with offerings from KSTV and internationally.

Couple of additions/edits to the set list...First up was Kack Bop (by Knats, available on all streaming platforms!), Actual Proof (Herbie Hancock), Red Moon (Knats), Whilst we're here (Ferg Kilsby), encore was a double speed Eye of the Hurricane (Herbie Hancock).

The band have put a couple of streamed clips on https://www.instagram.com/knatsmusic/

Chris

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