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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Sunday, May 01, 2022

Darlington Jazz Festival: Durham Alumni Big Band + Durham Music Service Big Band @ Central Hall - April 29

It was three years ago (2019) when the Durham Alumni Big Band last featured at a Darlington Jazz Festival. The pandemic-enforced cancellation of the event two years running seemed to galvanise the 2022 audience, turning out in good number, determined to enjoy an evening of big band jazz. As the Alumni took to the stage, scanning the sections, it appeared almost all of the regular faces were occupying their usual chairs. The first half of the evening's concert would feature the band's intended pre-pandemic salute to VE Day 75. The second set would broaden the repertoire.

Flying Home. Imagine the Goodman-Hampton chart being played on VE Day. It captured the mood, the very essence of the occasion. It was as if the Alumni had never been away, the evening's first feature solo courtesy of tenor man Harry Keeble. A Matt Roberts' arrangement of Harry Warren's I Wish I Knew, Stan Kenton's arrangement of A Foggy Day in London Town, the boys and girls of the Durham Alumni Big Band were Back in the Swing     
             
Second set, more nostalgia and something slightly more up to date. Sammy Nestico's Feelin' Free (trumpets in unison), an Al Wood arrangement of Bernie's Tune (Mr Wood was in the audience), Big Dipper from the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis pad 1972 (perilously modern!) featured, first pianist Dean Stockdale, followed by Keeble blowing yet more assured tenor. Basie's version of Bye Bye Blackbird, Mark Armstrong (NYJO's supremo) supplied an arrangement of A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Terry O'Hern and Stevie McGarvie soloing). Swing Low, Sweet Chariot as played by the '49 USAAF Miller outfit heard the Alumni's trombones to great effect. And as the evening was drawing to a close Doc Severinsen's take on In the Mood found Keeble and McGarvie engaging in a friendly joust. Gershwin? I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'. Make no mistake, Durham Alumni Big Band is Back in the Swing.   

Durham Alumni Big Band: Shaune Eland (MD), Ian Robinson, Jonny Dunn, Billy Bradshaw, Andrew Meadowcroft (trumpets); Andrew Kirtley, Terry O'Hern, ?, ?, Alastair White (trombones); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Eoghann Furness (tenor sax); Stevie McGarvie (alto sax, soprano sax); Kirsty Dunn (alto sax); Danielle Drew (baritone sax); Shaun Henderson (guitar); Dean Stockdale (piano); Amy Baker (bass); Stephen Fletcher (drums)

Earlier, Durham Music Service Big Band opened the programme with a short but fast paced set. MDs Amy Leggett and Billy Bradshaw put their young charges through their paces. Eoghann Furness (tenor sax) and alto saxophonist Heather Kim set the standard with fine solos on Neal Hefti's Sunday Morning. Stevie Wonder's Living for the City powered along and a set of some thirty five minutes went out on a high with When Sunny Gets Blue. Russell

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