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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

Thursday, May 05, 2022

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Laura Jurd @ Parabola Arts Centre - May 1

It seems like years since I last saw Laura Jurd and I couldn’t remember how many times I’ve seen her. I know the first time was at the Scarborough Jazz Festival and Mrs T reminded me of one occasion I’d forgotten about. Nor had I done my homework properly and wasn’t expecting the eleven piece group I’d seen at Sage Gateshead a few years back. Interesting to see if the intervening years had affected my appreciation of this generation of British jazz.

Jurd was playing cornet on this occasion, with her regular quartet of Elliot Galvin on piano, Conor Chaplin on bass guitar and Corrie Dick on drums, with additional trombone and euphonium, the ubiquitous Rob Luft on guitar and the Ligeti String Quartet. Jurd is a regular member of the Electric Ladyland Big Band but this was obviously too close in the schedule for her to do both.

The set included compositions from Jurd, Galvin, Dick and Norwegian artists she’d collaborated with in the past, beginning with her own Stepping Out from the album Stepping Jumping In.

 

When Tony Dudley-Evans introduced the band he highlighted the contrast between this set, based on composition, and the previous set by Paul Dunmall based on improvisation, and I remembered a comment on one of the Charles Mingus documentaries that improvisation is a form of composition. I was immediately struck by the use of light and shade in the juxtaposition of quieter moments, with perhaps two or three instruments, and louder moments where the whole band were blowing, which was common to both bands. Also how the different elements of each band could pair different instruments to create more variety, clearly with greater opportunity for this in the larger band.

Jurd’s sound and technique is no less fantastic on cornet and Luft is never less than impressive, but the whole band demonstrated exemplary musicianship, blending the disparate sections seamlessly.  

 

Our busy schedule meant we came out before the end for a quick drink from the bar, essentially to get a couple of glasses for the bottle of prosecco we’d successfully stashed, but who knew – after all these years - the draught lager and cider would be so good, if – less surprisingly – so expensive. Also a chance to check the site out, reduced in size since the pandemic, with food stall prices inflated from expensive to silly, the CD store a no-show, presumably a result of  the rise of streaming, the demonisation of CD and the damp squib of a vinyls revival. Most alarming of all was the absence of a programme, an essential tool for the hapless reviewer, which wasn’t a popular move amongst festival-goers or volunteers either. Steve T     

1 comment :

Steve T said...

I've just noticed I've put Conor Chaplin down for bass guitar on this gig but he was playing upright and it was the following gig he played bass guitar. Sorry Conor.

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