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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17945 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far, 22 this month (April 8).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Only Six Standards.
Thu 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Tuesday, May 03, 2022

Heidi Martin - Gifts & Sacrifices

(Press release)

Spring is here with Gifts & Sacrifices, the new album from American vocalist and composer Heidi Martin, recorded at NYC’s GSI Studio last June. Born in Washington DC, Heidi honed her craft under the tutelage of elder Grady Tate while absorbing the city’s additional jazz royalty:  Shirley Horn, Reuben Brown, and Steve Novosel at DC’s own historic venue ‘One Step Down’.

 

Moving to New York City in the late 90’s, Heidi quickly established herself on the East Coast scene. This fertile period allowed her to work with an eclectic and virtuosic role call: Paul Bollenback, George Colligan, Dana Murray, Gregoire Maret, Ameen Saleem, Federico Gonzales Pena, Michael Bowie, Kris Funn, George Burton, Tarus Mateen, Russell Gunn, Dwayne Burno, and Gene and Kim Lake. She played Birdland, the Knitting Factory, CBGBs when she wasn’t getting back to DC for Bohemian Caverns, Blues Alley, and the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage.

 

Heidi cultivated her expertise as a composer and band-leader, eventually releasing her debut album ‘Hide’. All About Jazz only had this to say about it: “a biopic of the 21st Century American South: the sticky sensuality and dusty prejudice that endures, never changing. Musically, Hide is the same, but sparingly so -- Muscle Shoals and Memphis distilled to the pure essence … “a vehicle for lyrics to manifest in the aural sea of forgiveness”. Co-Produced with Dana Murray, HIDE was also a vehicle for her to assemble a unique cast of musicians and friends including Eric Revis, Gregoire Maret, James Hurt, Kahlil Kwame Bell, Derek and Vincent Gardner, Sherman Irby, and Jamal Brown.

 

The success of HIDE meant national and international performances at Winter JazzFest, DC Jazz Festival, Atlanta’s Black Arts Fest, Pori Jazz Festival (Finland), The Kenzi Sky Bar, and Cadet Rouge (Casablanca, Morocco), among others. Heidi has also shared the stage as a featured vocalist with luminaries such as Nicholas Payton, Tim Warfield, George Burton, and Russell Gunn, as guest artist on recordings with Russell Gunn, Dana Murray, Steve Williams, Harold Little and Pause, Play, Record, as well as significant collaborations in co-writing and co- production with producer and keyboard innovator Raymond Angry, producer Russell Gunn, vocalist-composer Alison Crockett, Moroccan guitarist Hamza Badil, and producer and drummer Dana Murray.

 

Fast forward to this new gem, Gifts & Sacrifices.  Speaking about her new album, Heidi says, “Gifts & Sacrifices asks questions about the under examined social issues in humanity and within ourselves, and with our lovers. I share my best poetic guess to why things have unraveled in the ways I
perceive they have…” In fact, Heidi’s lyrics are more than a guess; they have rung true way before half of America decided to get woke for a few innings.

 

Heidi conjures “message” before her singing, form, phrasing, tonal and harmonic intuition.  Her voice and compositions instigate and settle … no categories or comparisons please.  Jazz and creative music, singing and song writing – all of it is anchored by the continuity and good choices she fosters with her collaborators.

 

The album is an enthralling and heart-warming listen, destined to be one of this year’s stand out releases in an era of post-pandemic optimism.


Available now from usual suspects.

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