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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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

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: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

Fri 28: Giles Strong 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: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

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, October 14, 2021

Emmet Cohen Trio @ Ronnie Scott's - Oct. 13

Emmet Cohen (piano); Yasushi Nakamura (double bass); Kyle Poole (drums) + Ruben Fox (tenor sax)

For more than a year Emmet Cohen has been streaming concerts on a weekly basis from his New York City apartment. Live from Emmet's Place has become required viewing. Now, as international travel has become somewhat easier, pianist Cohen is once again on the road. A European tour itinerary included a stop off at Ronnie Scott's. Turning onto Frith Street a queue stretched out onto the pavement for the first of two houses. The sense of anticipation was palpable, people had been waiting a long time for this moment.

Cohen received a hero's welcome and that was before our man played a note! Fellow NYC residents Yasushi Nakamura and Kyle Poole are accompanying Cohen on this European trip and they too were made to feel right at home. Wow! Were we really about to hear these guys play? Dreams can come true! Online from NYC Cohen made it look so easy, same thing here at Ronnie's. The Frith Street faithful whooped and hollered, including Trinity Laban students there to hear one of the great pianists of our time. 

Cohen was the big attraction but, boy, Nakamura and Poole are themselves box office material. Tin Tin Deo dazzled with the trio's musicianship out of this world, Nakamura's solo had to be heard to be believed. Bud Powell's I'll Keep Loving You, Horace Silver's The Back Beat, the suggestion of a lineage was all too apparent. Uptempo numbers incorporating innumerable, fleeting quotes...Duke, a hint of Monk, the facility of Oscar P, the elegance of Shearing, was that Somewhere over the? No matter, it's gone, no time to think, all of it quite breathtaking. The trio couldn't have been tighter, the result of countless hours working together, Nakamura and Poole (a master of the brushes) negotiating every twist and turn in the arrangements. Listening to the Emmet Cohen Trio like this was an absolute privilege. 

Cohen spoke about his NYC based musician friends. One of them, Ruben Fox, emerged from Tomorrow's Warriors and numerous Late Shows here at Ronnie's before relocating to the Big Apple. The pandemic saw Fox return to London. Cohen remarked he hadn't seen his friend for something like eighteen months...until this evening. Yes, Ruben Fox, tenor sax in hand, joined Emmet, Yasushi and Kyle to close the show. Jimmy McHugh's Don't Blame Me featured Fox's exquisite, breathy Ben Webster-like tenor. 

It had been a fabulous early show. As the audience made its way out onto the street, second house ticket holders were queueing at the door. They were in for a treat - Russell

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