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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

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: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
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

Friday, August 26, 2022

BSH interviews Mike Farmer (part two)

BSH: Favourite musicians that you’ve heard live and, again, anyone that you found didn’t live up to expectation.

Mike: I think I tend to favour saxophonists when asked for my favourite musicians whom I’ve seen live - and there are many - but I  would put Dexter Gordon, Johnny Griffin, Sonny Stitt, Stan Getz and Archie Shepp in my top five. Then Bob Mover, Lou Tabackin, Ronnie Scott, Don Menza, Clifford Jordan, Brew Moore, Greg Abate, Anthony Braxton, Lanny Morgan, Sam Most, Sonny Rollins, Paul Gonsalves, Lucky Thompson. 

Then brass players that I like include Dizzy Gillespie, Clark Terry, Freddie Hubbard, Woody Shaw, Benny Green (trombone) Miles Davis, Ira Sullivan, Red Rodney, Maynard Ferguson, Jo Hunter, Shake Keane.

Piano players would be Kenny Drew, Erroll Garner, Gil Coggins, John Donaldson, Junior Mance, Eddie Higgins, Freddie Garner, Thelonious Monk. 

Bass: Ray Brown, Sirone, Charlie Haden, Scott Colley, Dave Green, Dave Holland.  

Drums: Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Spike Wells, Barry Altschul. 

Vibes: Dave  Pike, Lionel Hampton, Red Norvo. 

Violin: Billy Bang, Jean Luc Ponty. 

Organ: Jimmy Smith, Wild Bill Davis.

Regarding players not living up to expectations I can’t think of many but there was one occasion when I went to the Club 43 to see Hank Mobley and he was OK but not as good as his playing on Soul Station. When I saw Paul Gonsalves with the Ellington band in Berlin he was way off mic and I couldn’t hear a note he was playing. Still, these occasions were very rare.

I’ve just realised I’ve missed some important musicians off my list that I saw live such as Roland Kirk, Warne Marsh, Leo Wright, Milt Jackson, Sherman Ferguson, Tal Farlow, Kenny Burrell, Yusef Lateef, Gil Evans and Cannonball Adderley.

BSH: On a personal level, I know you play sax. Would you like to tell us a bit more about your playing side? Did you play in Kathy Stobart’s rehearsal band?

Mike: Regarding my playing.  I still play my vintage Martin tenor sax but it is a very heavy instrument and on the rare occasion that I play anywhere I sometimes have to ask for assistance in carrying the horn up or down stairs. Due to health problems I have limited opportunities to play but I like getting together with a guitarist friend and a bass player and trying out tunes  which I find very therapeutic. I sometimes play my Stagg soprano but only on numbers that suit the instrument. I have an alto sax but I’ve not played it for ages as I prefer the sound of the tenor.

I enjoyed playing in the Kathy Stobart rehearsal band and it was great playing alongside Stan Sulzmann in the sax section. I remember Kenny Wheeler being in the trumpet section and Chris Laurence was the bass player. That was the last time I played in a big band.

6 comments :

Peter Courtley said...

Mike, you mention:
'I enjoyed playing in the Kathy Stobart rehearsal band and it was great playing alongside Stan Sulzmann in the sax section. I remember Kenny Wheeler being in the trumpet section and Chris Laurence was the bass player. That was the last time I played in a big band.'
What year would this have been and where was the rehearsal band? I'm the late Kathy Stobart's youngest son Pete and doing some research. Do yopu know if Don Weller was also in this rehearsal band at some point?

Mike Farmer said...

Hi Peter Great to hear from you. Re the Kathy Stobart Rehearsal Band this was during the first Newcastle Jazz Festival which I think was 1974 I had to check on the internet and there is some info on the bands that were playing there. I do not remember Don Weller being part of the rehearsal band. I recall the first tune we tried was a Tubby Hayes chart Soft and Supple and we also did Gil Evans's La Nevada plus a third tune that might have been another Gil Evans arrangement. Kathy did a great job of bandleading and there was a possibility of the band doing a spot during the festival but the musicians union decided it could not happen. I saw Kathy Stobart a few times and the last time was at Bracknell in a quintet with Lenny Best the vibes player. Cheers Mike

Peter Courtley said...

Thanks Mike, I assume Kath had booked/paid Stan Sulzmann, Kenny Wheeler etc. as pros
to lead each section... or have I got this wrong?

Mike Farmer said...

Hi Pete- Stan Sulzmann and Kenny Wheeler were part of pianist John Taylor's sextet and as well as being in the rehearsal band, they did a sextet concert which I attended. The sextet also did a workshop of sorts but was not as satisfying as the big band one that Kathy ran.I don't know if Kathy had booked/paid for Sulzmann and Wheeler or it might have been Brian Blain who was the union rep. Andy Hudson I think is still around and may be worth contacting.-Mike

Andy Hudson said...

Kathy was in the festival but I think played with Humph. Skidmore and Henry Lowther were also in that Festival. I have vague memories of some MU kerfuffle. I had difficulties with them due to a complaining local bandleader (Alan Nicholson) which was eventually sorted to the extent that I was actually dragged on to some MU National Committees. The aforementioned Brian Blain was instrumental in calming the waters.

Sorry but you know how vague and hazy 1974 really was.

Peter Courtley said...

Thanks guys

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