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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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

Thursday, September 30, 2021

Scarborough Jazz Festival: Saturday Evening - Sept. 25

Okay it wasn’t Alphonse Mouzon or Dizzy again, but it was a choice that had to be made. Some local – north east – loyalty or a Nikki Iles Orchestra threatening some ‘serious’ guests. We weren’t having fish and chips (again) on my sixtieth birthday and we tend to eat late but, in the end, it came down to we’ve seen Zoë Gilby many times and will hopefully see her many more times.

The threats were real: Gareth Lockrane on flute and fluty things, guitarist Mike Walker, I hadn’t seen since a stunning performance at Southport, saxophonist Julian Siegel since the Partisans at Pizza Express, and many more.

Like much of the festival, it was postponed from last year and she spotted the irony that it was to be called the ‘face to face’ tour.

It began with a slow intro that reminded me of Gil Evans’ intro to So What on the famous television version. A piece called Wild Oak by another fine lady pianist, the late great Geri Allen. Although we would miss Zoë Gilby, Iles played a different north east connection; a piece about Red Ellen [Wilkinson], a labour party MP and minister who played a major role in the Jarrow March in 1936.

Hush was a piece inspired by Rufus Reid that she wrote for a trio and then adapted for a big band. Caged Bird was inspired by the lockdown and was a commission by the International Society in America. High Lands was arranged by Stan Sulzmann and featured her and Lockrane on some type of whistle.

I always think a flute, or better still flutes – and she had saxophonists switching to flute – add another dimension to a big band, giving an authentic American feel, perhaps inspired by countless cop show theme tunes, and none the worse for that.   

By the time we returned, it felt like I must have the largest corn or sore in the world on the little toe of my left foot, but - worryingly - there wasn’t a mark at all, raising alarms that it might be broken.  

When Alan Barnes introduced Jean Toussaint he observed that most musicians play the music but a small number of bands drive the music forward and one such band was Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers. Over the years they featured many of the great names in jazz, including Donald Byrd, Wayne Shorter, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Benny Golson, Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Kenny Garrett and Jean Toussaint. Despite Toussaint now being resident in the UK, this was nevertheless a seriously big deal.

Shorter’s Palladium started things off as a quartet of sax, piano, bass and drums, a track off Weather Report’s Heavy Weather album I’ve been unable to find in his solo career. Kenny Dorham’s Wind Mill, an artist associated with the pre-history of the Messengers, and they were joined by a trumpeter who’d played in the Koller band the night before and I believe was Byron Wallen, though I’m not certain.

After two days of jazz, and on our seventh band, this really was really real jazz, really. Trombonist Dennis Rollins had joined them to complete the all-star sextet, alongside Andy McCormack on piano, Orlando Fleming on bass and Ben Brown on drums - even  Major Changes, Doc and Amabo all came from his latest CD Brother Raymond, the latter a tribute to Obama (spelt backwards) which drew applause for the former American president, and a high-spot of the live set.

Even my left foot couldn’t dampen my spirits and it seems being sixty isn’t so bad after all.   Steve T

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