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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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

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).

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, August 22, 2022

Newcastle Jazz Festival (day four) - Lindsay Hannon/Knats - August 21

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
Lindsay Hannon's Tom Waits for no man

Lindsay Hannon (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (bass guitar, double bass)

The fourth and final day of this year's Newcastle Jazz Festival began with a set devoted to the songs of Tom Waits. Vocalist Lindsay Hannon is an admirer of the veteran American songwriter and in a new collaboration with pianist Alan Law the duo's performance won warm applause. In fact, the duo quickly became a trio as Paul Grainger picked up his bass guitar to join them on Heart Attack and Vine. PG would remain on stage, switching to his more usual instrument, double bass. Hannon's seemingly photographic recall of a lyric is truly impressive, it's as if our vocalist is able to immerse herself in the world-weary world of T. Waits. 

Waits' song titles in themselves paint vivid pictures - Christmas Card from a Hooker in MinneapolisPasties and a G-String - and Hannon's playful yet incisive vocal delivery held the attention of a sizeable early Sunday afternoon audience. Alan Law's bluesy piano playing couldn't have been bettered, just right for the material and as accompanist to Hannon. Bassist Paul Grainger didn't miss a trick, steady as you like. The good news is Lindsay Hannon has more gigs in the diary. Watch this space.          
   
Set list: Christmas Card from a Hooker in MinneapolisHeart Attack and VineCold, Cold GroundPicture in a FramePasties and a G-StringMarthaRomeo is Bleeding.

(© Malcolm Sinclair)
Knats: Ferg Kilsby (trumpet); Josh Mitchell-Rayner (keyboards); Stan Woodward (bass); King David Ike-Elechi (drums)

Knats, the band of the moment. These guys are going places, literally. Josh, Stan and King are heading for the Bright Lights (London's music conservatoires), Ferg will follow in due course upon completion of his final year at school. The quartet's gig diary has seen the band popping up in all manner of places, if you haven't at least heard of them, where have you been?! Knats' Newcastle Jazz Festival appearance was the band's penultimate gig in a whirlwind year during which their feet have hardly touched the ground.

Pedals - trumpet, keys, bass and drums - projected Knats' big sound across the cavernous space here at Tyne Bank Brewery. Gloriously retro sounds (that's seventies' full-on jazz-rock, jazz-funk killer riffs) allied to band compositions, Knats went for the jugular. And it worked. Herbie Hancock's Actual Proof and Joe Henderson's Black Narcissus, Knats' Every Sun is a Red Moon, technique in abundance, from Kilsby's fearless blowing, Mitchell-Rayner's inventive solos to Woodward's in-the-pocket basslines to Ike-Elechi's thunderous work behind the traps, there's little doubt Knats opened a few eyes and ears! There's one more opportunity to catch the band, that's Thursday (August 25) at Hoochie Coochie. Don't miss it!  Russell      

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