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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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

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.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. THIS WEEK ONLY JAMES BIRKETT (guitar)!
Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, August 14, 2021

Newcastle Jazz Festival Day One - Alice Grace w. Strictly Smokin' Big Band . Dean Stockdale Trio @ Newcastle Civic Centre - August 13

Photo © Kim 
Bainbridge. 
This promised much and delivered even more! Alice Grace singing Ella Fitzgerald backed by a swinging big band - what could go wrong?

Nothing! Absolutely nothing!

From the opening Honeysuckle Rose which began so gently with just the rhythm section behind her before erupting like Vesuvius when the full band hit the triple fortissimos until the final That Old Black Magic Alice had the audience enraptured.

Our girl looked good and sounded even better - or was it vice versa? - probably both!

The songs had all been recorded by Ella F and feature on the recently recorded crowd-funded album Alice and the band will shortly release. Every one a gem. 

Frank Loesser and Jule Styne's I Said No with its clever and amusing lyric. Puttin' on the Ritz, a song that Irving Berlin wrote for the Fred Astaire/Ginger Rogers movie Top Hat, had an alto solo from Steve Summers and, whilst Ginger may have been able to dance backwards in high heels Alice didn't chance it but, instead, was content to deliver an impeccable vocal. 

Mean to Me featured nice tenor from Jamie Toms and that great line by Roy Turk - why must you be mean to me when you know what you mean to me? Comparable with anything Cole Porter wrote! Certainly better than Can't Buy me Love although Alice and SSBB, like Ella before her, proved that you can make a purse out of a sow's ear. 

A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, sung tenderly and effectively with Dave Kerridge blowing tenor on the Strayhorn classic. Lullaby of Broadway and a Michael Lamb arrangement of There's a Boat That's Leavin' Soon For New York proved that there's more to Porgy and Bess than Summertime. Gil Evans arranged it for Miles but Michael's version would probably have been too fast for Miles. Fortunately, it wasn't for Alice.

Steve Summers blew on Get Happy then we hit the penultimate Time After Time. This had been quite a set. Get happy? We certainly did!

Alice Grace (vocals) Michael Lamb, MD, Graham Hardy, Gordon Marshall, Stuart McLean-Fowler (trumpets); Chris Kurgi-Smith, Mark Ferris, Keiran Parnaby, John Flood (trombones); Jamie Toms, Dave Kerridge, Steve Summers, Keith Robinson, Laurie Rangecroft (reeds); Pawel Jedrzejewski (guitar); Graham Don (keyboards); Michael Whent (bass guitar); Guy Swinton (drums)

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Photo © Kim
Bainbridge.
Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (bass);  Abbie Finn (drums)

Earlier, the Dean Stockdale Trio got things underway with a mix of standards and originals. Three seasoned players at the top of their game they set the scene perfectly for what was to come. Lance

On the Sunny Side of the Street; Promise the Moon; Moon River; First Light; Kelly's Blues; Out of Nowhere.

Link to more photos by Kim.                                                                                    ps: Good to (finally) meet Maurice Rodham who preceded me in Windows Music Shop all those years ago. Maurice went on to greater things as a music teacher at St. Cuthbert's in Newcastle. His pupils included Steve Summers, tonight's lead alto, and Cormac Loane, another good friend of mine now based in Birmingham. Aged 91, Maurice looked well.

1 comment :

Steve T said...

Summertime was sped up at Montreux with Quincy Jones, a magnificent and emotional DVD/video.

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