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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

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: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

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: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ 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: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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 21, 2021

The Simon Spillett Big Band plays the music of Tubby Hayes @ The 100 Club, London - Oct 20

An orderly queue formed outside the 100 Club. Some had travelled a distance, Scottish accents were detected, Geordie too. Descending a flight of stairs leading to the legendary basement venue, the gentle hubbub of conversation, accompanied by Snowboy's DJ set, heightened what was already an eagerly awaited occasion, the sense of anticipation was palpable. We were on Oxford Street to listen to the big band charts of one of the great figures in British modern jazz. 

A dream was about to come true for one of the great advocates of British modern jazz. Simon Spillett, himself regarded as one of today's great British jazz saxophonists, had set about assembling an amazing, all-star band to play the big band charts of the late, great Tubby Hayes. It had been more than half a century since Hayes' renowned big band graced the stage here at the 100 Club. This evening Spillett, biographer, saxophonist, bandleader and leading authority on Hayes, stood in the footsteps of his hero. 

At a little after eight o'clock, the Simon Spillett Big Band took to the stage, opening with Dear Johnny B.* Wow! Wow! Wow! Words cannot convey how brilliant, how thrilling this was! The super-charged band (lead with boundless enthusiasm by Spillett) almost blew the roof off the place (Sammy Mayne's searing alto sax solo, Mark Armstrong** blowing fearless trumpet)! If that had been it, if MD Spillett had said: Thank you, and good night, it would have been worth the trip from BSH HQ up on Tyneside. Absolutely brilliant!

From here on in, Spillett's stupendous band played a blinder with the standing-room-only audience loving every minute of it not least because of the leader's own solos which perfectly encapsulated the technique and the vitality of the original without any suggestion of plagiarism. In part, the set list served to illustrate Hayes' interest in the work of other composers, notably, Ian Hamer (Pedro's Walk, a feature for the rhythm section, Messrs Rob Barron, Alec Dankworth and Pete Cater), Milt Jackson (Bluesology, Simon Allen, tenor sax solo).and Jimmy Deuchar (Russian Roulette). Of course Hayes' own work featured: She Insulted Me in Marrakesh (the title tickling some in the audience) and As Close As You Are, but two of several choice numbers in the pad.     
 
Much of the material heard here on Oxford Street was drawn from Tubbs' Tours and 100% Proof. The albums featured all-star line-ups, so it was fitting that this 2021 in concert big band was similarly of the all-star variety. All sections boasted top rank soloists: the trumpets, Mark Armstrong, Freddie Gavita and George Hogg with Nathan Bray playing lead; Ian Bateman and late dep Andy Wood in the 'bones; the reeds truly A-listers, namely the tenors Alex Garnett and Simon Allen, the altos Sammy Mayne and Pete Long, and occupying the baritone chair, the ubiquitous, not to mention brilliant, Alan Barnes. 

MD Spillett suggested it was rather apt that Victor Feldman's Seven Steps to Heaven should feature in the set list considering the Feldman family established 100 Oxford Street as a key venue on the London jazz scene. Simon Spillett thanked each and every member of the band, the man appeared to be in 'seventh heaven', and who could blame him?! To close out a truly memorable evening, the man himself, Simon Spillett, went toe-to-toe with Alex Garnett on a stupendous take on Sonnymoon for Two. It, and the entire set, won the Simon Spillett Big Band a prolonged standing ovation.              
 
Drummer Johnny Butts worked with Tyneside's legendary modern jazz outfit the EmCee Five.

** Mark Armstrong was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. 

Simon Spillett Big Band: Simon Spillett (MD, tenor sax); Alex Garnett (tenor sax, clarinet, flute); Simon Allen (tenor sax, clarinet); Pete Long (alto sax); Sammy Mayne (alto sax); Alan Barnes (baritone sax, clarinet); Mark Armstrong; Nathan Bray; Freddie Gavita; George Hogg (trumpets); Ian Bateman; Andy Flaxman; Richard Henry; Andy Wood (trombones); Rob Barron (piano); Alec Dankworth (double bass); Pete Cater (drums) + DJ Snowboy. 

Set list included: Dear Johnny BAs Close As You ArePedro's WalkBluesologyShe Insulted Me in MarrakeshSong for a Sad LadyRussian RouletteSolveig; Seven Steps to Heaven; Sonnymoon for Two

3 comments :

Grant Duncan said...

Couldn’t agree more! One of the best Big Band Gigs I have ever been to!

Charlie said...

Thank you for this review. It was as much as anything a joyous occasion. Everybody, but everybody was smiling. The band, the audience, the bar staff. I swear when I emerged onto a drenched Oxford Street passers by were grinning. Thank you Simon.

Alan said...

Equally fabulous gig by this band at Herts Jazz Festival on Sunday 17 October. Thanks so much, Simon, for putting all this together - a fantastic evening!

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