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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

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, November 11, 2022

Adrian Cox Quintet with Dan Higham @ The 100 Club, London - Nov. 9

Adrian Cox (clarinet, vocals); Joe Webb (piano); Denny Ilett (guitar, vocals); Will Sach (double bass); Shaney Forbes (drums) with Dan Higham (trombone) + TJ Johnson (vocals)

Remembering the great sidemen of Louis Armstrong - Edmond Hall & Trummy Young. So said the publicity blurb. The iconic 100 Club on Oxford Street has played host to many a famous name. Its doors opened as the Feldman Swing Club, later Humph would front the venue and down the years Ronnie Scott, John Dankworth, Benny Goodman, Louis Armstrong and many other household names have graced its stage. This evening, the indefatigable Adrian Cox presented his quintet playing music associated with Armstrong's sidemen Edmond Hall (Cox's favourite clarinetist) and Trummy Young.

Charismatic frontman Adrian Cox returned to London after several weeks abroad (working for a spell in South America then Scandinavia). Our man has social networking down to a fine art. Wherever he is in the world, his 'presence' on various platforms is 24/7. And it paid off big time with a huge turn out, the joint was jumpin'! There's nowt wrong with mouldy old figs but here on Oxford Street they were in danger of being outnumbered by a much younger generation.
From the down beat Cox whipped 'em up into a frenzy. Breakneck takes on Muskrat Ramble and Indiana had 'em cheering to the echo. Breakneck and breathless! Two numbers in, it was worth the price of admission. Imagine the countless juke joints, honkytonks and dives Louis Armstrong played in with their two-bit hustlers, mobsters and moonshine for company, this 100 Club gig surely captured something of the atmosphere from way back when.**

Cox's A-list quintet couldn't be bettered: in-demand pianist Joe Webb, guitarist Denny Ilett, New Yorker Will Sach playing double bass, and the ever-smiling Shane (Shaney to his friends) Forbes, drums. As this was an Edmond Hall-Trummy Young session, bandleader Cox drafted in Dan Higham. Trombonist Higham, not long out of music school, is picking up more and more of the top jobs, and this was one of them. Of quiet demeanour, as and when required Higham pulled out into the fast lane, not least on a hotter-than-hot Undecided. Phew! Note the name, Dan Higham, a star in the making. 

Denny Ilett is an accomplished guitarist, a great player. Add vocals, what a talent! If Ilett has yet to take a gig solely as a singer, there's little doubt he would convince the sharpest of ears. Here at the 100 Club Ilett sang a couple of numbers including a marvellous take on You Can Depend on Me. Joe Webb is no mere sideman. A friend of Adrian Cox, pianist Webb is Tatum, Peterson and more rolled up into one. And as for the rhythm boys - Sach and Forbes - there's none finer. Main Man Cox had an adoring crowd in the palm of his hand. Red hot clarinet, vocals - Try, Try Again, Fruitie Cutie (Higham scoring again), a show-stopping Four or Five Times (Cox leading the hand-clapping), yes, the joint was jumpin' alright! 

From the crowded room, up stepped TJ Johnson to sing but one number. Fresh from his afternoon Jamboree residency, TJ, no stranger to the 100 Club, sang Basin Street. What a night it had been! More! More! Cox asked the crowd: Should we do another one next year? The reply: Yeah! The applause deafening, the Adrian Cox Quintet went out on When the Saints go Marching in.      

Is a younger audience the preserve of the capital's jazz venues or do some regional venues (north, south, east and west) attract a younger crowd? 

** There is no suggestion that anyone in attendance at the 100 Club remotely resembled two-bit bums, gangsters or such like, nor was the place dealing in illicit booze.  Russell            

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