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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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Gregory Porter + Jo Harrop @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm. Support act: Jo Harrop!

Tue 13: ???

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Recital (stage 2): Leah Kirk (voice) @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 3:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Jerron Paxton @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.20. Excellent country blues multi-instrumentalist.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. BACK IN BUSINESS, all welcome!

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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, August 16, 2021

Newcastle Jazz Festival Day Three. Jay Phelps; Sue Ferris; Gerry Richardson - Tyne Bank Brewery. August 15

Jay Phelps (trumpet, vocal); Dean Stockdale (piano); Andy Champion (bass); Dave McKeague (drums).

Save the best for last has always been a good game plan and never has that proved more so than the final set of this year's Newcastle Jazz Festival and, I say that with all due respect to the other performers who have
made this weekend such a great success.

From the opening few bars of the soundcheck (Blue Monk) the word that screamed at me was class! This was it - the real deal.

Jay Phelps is the greatest trumpet player I've heard since Roy Hargrove - maybe even going further back to Dizzy. Think Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard - Jay Phelps is in that league and miles ahead of the rest.

A nicely balanced mix of standards, modern jazz classics and originals. A lyrical I Can't Get Started didn't do Bunny Berigan any harm but, without Berigan's vocal and his grandiose flourishes it offered a more than acceptable alternative. 

Of course, behind every great soloist there's a rhythm section and tonight's crew were handpicked to perfection. Even then, the easy going Canadian inspired them to lift their game even higher. This was the absolute pinnacle of a meeting of great minds - so different from some of those gigs at the Corner House way back when, when fading visiting Americans would give the local boys a hard time. Jay Phelps is world class and didn't need those ego trips. On tonight's showing, I reckon Dean, Andy and Dave could hold their own in NYC - AFM permitting!

If you missed this gig - and we know who you are - all I can say to you is, "na-na-na-na-na"

Syeeda's Song Flute; This I Dig of You; I Can't Get Started; Everyone's Ethnic; Salute to the Band Box; Blues Connotation.                                                              -----                                                                                                                               

Sue Ferris Quartet: Sue Ferris (baritone sax); Stuart Collingwood (piano); Paul Grainger (bass); Rob Walker (drums).

Prior to the Jay Phelps' set, Sue Ferris gave us some timely reminders of how great a musician Gerry Mulligan was and what a great a sax player Sue herself is. Due to an assortment of reasons Collingwood and Grainger were last minute replacements but it didn't show. Along with Walker they provided Sue with the wings to fly and she soared. Off the top of my head I can't think of any neighbourhood jazz bari players who could challenge Sue - it wasn't that long ago that she took Alan Barnes to a split decision.

Walkin' Shoes; Rocker; Festive Minor; Rico Apollo; Line For Lyons; Cariocca; Out Back of the Barn.                                                                                                  -----                                                                                                                            Gerry Richardson Quintet: Gerry Richardson (Crumair Mojo keyboard, vocals); Garry Linsley (alto sax); David Gray (trombone); Paul Smith (drums); Graham Hare (congas, perc.)

This was a bonus! Advertised as a quartet, after much speculation by both audience and organisers as to whether it would be Gerry playing solo or with his legendary Big Idea, it ended up somewhere in between.

Last night Ross Stanley hired a Pickford truck (joke) to transport his vintage Hammond organ and two Leslie speakers to play with two trombones.

Gerry had a more compact keyboard with ne'er a Leslie in sight and only one trombone but boy did they do the business!

Gerry hit the road travelled by Jimmy McGriff and Jack McDuff  - is he the best jazz organist in the UK? He gets my vote and he's always good for a vocal or two.

David Gray is the loose canon in the band. Every solo he takes he goes for the jugular. Triple tongued passages at amazing speed, tonal variations, he's a crowd pleaser which is what music, and jazz in particular, needs. Apart from the musicality he's got the stage presence, the moves. He could be auditioning for West Side Story brandishing a trombone instead of a flick knife.

By contrast, Garry Linsley is Daddy Cool. His emotions remain hidden even when he's in full flight. Is he thinking about the next lick or how long he has left on his parking meter?

Money's Gettin' Cheaper; Mercy, Mercy, Mercy; African Sunset; Soul Shadows; Sunny - Lance

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