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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

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 08, 2021

The Stuart Fowler Quintet: Freddie Hubbard's Open Sesame + jam session @ Central Bar, Gateshead - Nov. 8

Stuart Fowler (trumpet, piano); Jamie Toms (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (bass); John Bradford (drums) + Harry Keeble (tenor sax).

The second of the Central Bar's monthly sessions continued with the Blue Note theme which was fine by me - it's my era!

Tonight's opening set concentrated on Freddie Hubbard's debut album for the label - Open Sesame.

The room was crowded and when Fowler hit the opening notes of One Mint Julep I knew this was going to be as close as we were gonna get this side of Rudy Van Gelder's studio in New Jersey 60 years ago.

They did the album justice.

(Pics by Pam)
Fowler has "a tone" not the strangulated apology of so many modern trumpet players but a sound that resonates from mouthpiece to bell - Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown had it - Miles didn't.

Jamie Toms slotted nicely into the Tina Brooks role. Brooks is surely one of the most underrated of tenor players - known only to the cognoscenti.

McCoy Tyner could never said to be underrated but his understudy tonight certainly is.

Alan Law may not have many, if any, CDs to his name but he certainly should. Tonight he was on fire.

Shoulder and Bradford seem to have been on every other gig you've ever been to and, tonight they proved their worth.

So far so good, now bring on the jammers - that meanlooking bunch of saxslingers out to kick ass. Jam sessions are, in theory, the equivalent of jousting contests, battle royals, bare knuckle brawls where the combatants go toe to toe and slug it out.

Apart from Keeble, who could kick ass at Birdland there were no takers - maybe he scared them off!

Nevertheless if the fireworks weren't there it was still interesting when Fowler proved he was no one-trick-pony by playing piano on Take the A Train.

By this time the audience had begun to dwindle and the final number was called. It should have been a showstopper: Dexter v Wardell, Harry v Jamie - the stuff that jams are made of. It didn't quite happen that way. Nevertheless, despite my misgivings it was still a great session and I can't wait for the next one and to discover which gem Stuart has mined from the Blue Note catalogue.

Blue Note, real ale - Shangri-la! Lance

One Mint Julep; Open Sesame; But Beautiful; All or Nothing at All; Gypsy Blues; Hub's Nub.
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