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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.

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).

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!

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, December 13, 2022

Kind of Blue & a jam session @ Central Bar, Gateshead - Dec. 12

Pete Tanton (trumpet); Sue Ferris (alto sax, tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums) + Ike Stow (trombone); Giles Strong (guitar)

Kind of Blue on a bitterly cold Monday evening. Freezing outside and, to be honest, not much warmer inside, the lure was the rare opportunity to hear the Central Bar Quintet 'play through' perhaps the most famous LP and, to this day, probably the biggest selling jazz album of all time. The ace rhythm section - Messrs Alan Law (Bill Evans, Wynton Kelly), Mick Shoulder (Paul Chambers) and John Bradford (Jimmy Cobb) - would provide the foundation for the modal frontline of Pete Tanton (Miles Davis) and Sue Ferris (John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley). 

That's one helluva star-studded line-up, isn't it? Pete, Sue, Alan, Mick and John! And off they went, as per the Columbia recording, with So What. Mick getting his head and fingers round the instantly recognisable bass line, Pete coming in right on cue, as Milesian as you're likely to hear. Open horn or tightly muted, Pete's playing couldn't be bettered. Freddie Freeloader with Sue on alto (Cannonball), Pete sublime on Blue in Green, we were right there, 1959. 

Sue blew the alto sax blues on All Blues, fantastic! And then, to take it out, Flamenco Sketches. A little over one hour, the audience as attentive as it was possible to be, it had been a treat. 

Interval, colder than cold, it looked as though second set sitters-in would be thin on the (icy) ground. 

Ike Stow threw his hat into the ring calling Frankie and Johnny. Bold 'bone from the lanky enthusiast, staying on for Dark Eyes and Mercy, Mercy, Mercy. Giles Strong dropped by, Ralph Rainger's If I Should Lose You his first selection followed by I'll Remember April. Guitar playing of the highest order, whenever Giles is next in concert, be sure to be there. Gateshead's Central Bar on Half Moon Lane, second Monday in the month, it's the place to be. The Central Bar Quintet will be giving January a miss, the next session - put it in your 2023 diary - will be on Monday February 13. Russell        

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