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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

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, October 03, 2022

Celebrating the Life & Music of Pharoah Sanders @ Prohibition Bar - Oct. 2

Sue Ferris (tenor sax, flute); Josh Bentham (tenor sax, soprano sax); Tom Atkinson (guitar, vocals); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Jeff Armstrong (drums)

A couple of days after Pharoah Sanders died Tom Atkinson contacted a bunch of fellow musicians to see who was available to pay tribute to the influential post-bop, free jazz-inclined American saxophonist. Within the week a gig had been arranged and publicised and at half past seven or thereabouts on Sunday evening a five piece band took to the stage at Prohibition Bar.

No rehearsal, a last minute change to the advertised line-up, Atkinson and co. hit the ground running. Announcements were kept to a minimum - nothing new there! - as bandleader Atkinson preferred to let the music speak for itself. Sanders' standards repertoire didn't feature at all, nor the full-on post-Trane material. What we got was Sanders, some Sonny Sharrock and a whole lotta excellent musicianship from the sight reading quintet. 

Middle period Sanders yielded Sonny Sharrock's Promises Kept and the set-closing The Creator Has a Master Plan. Throughout an extended, one set performance, guitarist Atkinson, the reeds of Sue Ferris and Josh Bentham, bassist Jude Murphy (pitching up from an earlier engagement) and drummer Jeff Armstrong produced a fine tip-of-the-hat to Sanders. In the engine room Armstrong was a picture of concentration, Murphy's sight-reading of pulsating bass charts couldn't have been bettered. And then there was Ferris, absolutely nailing her solos, and full marks to Bentham for stepping in and more than doing a job. 

Tom Atkinson should be congratulated for playing this kind of material which, by and large, has been sidelined. On the local Tyneside jazz scene - and no doubt elsewhere - as a rule it's either bop or contemporary, the bit in between, that's Sanders and his fellow travellers, have been largely forgotten. More power to Atkinson's musical elbow. Russell

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