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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, November 29, 2021

Georgia Cécile: Only the Lover Sings @ Queen's Hall, Edinburgh - Nov. 26

Storm Arwen wasn't going to put a stop to Georgia Cécile's Only the Lover Sings album launch, although last month an American superstar did bring about a postponement of the original date. October 16 should have been Georgia Cécile's big day but, when Gregory Porter came calling, it proved impossible to say: No. And so a profusely apologetic Georgia begged forgiveness from her many fans for rescheduling the concert saying it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to open the show for Mr P, at the Royal Albert Hall, no less. 

And so to Friday (Nov. 26). Travel plans amended, hotel reservations changed, weather changed. Ah, yes, the weather...Mid-October, autumnal sunshine, late November, a scene approaching something like Armageddon. The walk up the road from Waverley Station to Queen's Hall proved challenging. Head down into a gale force wind, would anyone make it to the venue? Amazingly they did. A full house greeted our award-winning Glaswegian singer. Georgia Cécile and Euan Stevenson have forged an enduring songwriting partnership: the music embracing elements of the Great American Songbook, the lyrics as good as any contemporary lyricist you care to name. One sensed the evening was going to be something special. 

The Month of May opened the show, the brilliance of Cécile's vocals, Stevenson's piano playing (at the Queen's Hall's Steinway) and the equally brilliant contributions from the SNJO boys - Ryan Quigley, Konrad Wiszniewski, Michael Owers - and an ace rhythm section comprising Glasgow Conservatoire trained Irishman Conor Murray and Chicagoan Max Popp ensured the evening couldn't be anything other than a triumph. And if that wasn't enough, Seonaid Aitken lead a stellar string quintet. 

The sound balance couldn't have been better, all twelve musicians were heard with great clarity of sound. An early highlight, Come Summertime, could have been written by, take a guess - Ellington? Gershwin? Porter? No, try Georgia Cécile and Euan Stevenson! Consider it a modern jazz standard. During the evening soloists emerged from the various sections: the prodigiously talented Ryan Quigley blowing Walls of Jericho-like trumpet. Storm Arwen? Powder puff by comparison! Bassist Conor Murray, if unknown to some, announced his arrival, if he hasn't already, he'll soon acquire the tag 'first call'. Popp's immense intro to Blue is Just a Colour, Cécile's commanding vocal delivery on Harpoon, the tender but bittersweet Bittersweet. The strings, led by Aitken, were integral to the performance, cellist Sonia Cromarty sublime in a Love the Stars You're Under Cécile-Stevenson-Cromarty encore.

From time to time musicians receive a standing ovation, this evening Georgia Cécile received not one but two fully deserved standing ovations.  Russell
                                    
Georgia Cécile (vocals); Euan Stevenson (MD, piano); Ryan Quigley (trumpet); Konrad Wiszniewski (tenor sax); Michael Owers (trombone); Conor Murray (double bass); Max Popp (drums); String Quintet: Seonaid Aitken (Leader, violin); Kirsty Orton (violin); Patsy Reid (viola); ? (viola); Sonia Cromarty (cello)
 
Set list included: The Month of MayCome SummertimeAlways Be RightHe Knew How to LoveGoodbye LoveHarpoonBittersweetEver Burning FlameBlue is Just a ColourLove the Stars You're Under.

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