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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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

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.

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

Wednesday, January 11, 2023

Alex Clarke Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle - Jan. 10

(© Debra Milne)
Alex Clarke (tenor sax, alto sax); Dave Newton (piano); James Owston (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums)

Post festive blues, end-of-the-month pay day seemingly a long way off, rain, wind, and the little matter of 52000 football fans heading to St James' Park for a League Cup quarter final tie, it all pointed to a low turn out for the first big jazz gig of the year at the Globe. On the approach to the Jazz Co-op's Railway Street premises vehicles were parked everywhere (on roads and pavements), black and white scarves making their way up to Gallowgate. Yes, the portents weren't good.

(© Ken Drew)
How wrong can one be? As the eight o'clock start approached the Globe was all but full. We were there to hear Alex Clarke on the first night of her nationwide tour. Alternating between tenor sax and alto sax, the 'rising star' of the British jazz scene just happened to have with her a hand-picked rhythm section - Messrs Dave Newton, James Owston and Clark Tracey. Labelling these three gents as a 'rhythm section' borders on insulting! Headliners in their own right, this was more 'superstar quartet' than anything else. 

(© Pam)
Tenor sax in hand, Clarke opened with Who Can I Turn To?. Solos all, regulation fours, we were on our way. Poor Butterfly (Clarke switching to alto), a mid-tempo Autumn Leaves, bandleader Clarke didn't go for the 'hard sell' when introducing Billy Strayhorn's Ballad for Very Tired and Very Sad Lotus Eaters, saying simply 'it's on the new album', (CDs were available on the night). Clarke played it as a duet with the masterful Dave Newton. Yes, masterful. A New Orleans shuffle brought in Beetroots Burn (an anagram of Bourbon Street). An A-list quartet, a listening audience, you could describe the first set as a 'resounding success'.   

Second set, alto sax, for a while we were were in bop territory - Voyage, It's You or No One, the new album's title track Only a Year (a Clarke original, referencing her brief time at Birmingham Conservatoire), the breadth of material and Clarke's undoubted composure, suggests the Jazz Co-op's guest star is going to have a long, illustrious career. The trio swung like the proverbials bringing in Just in Time, Clarke must be living the dream working with these guys - Newton and Tracey the senior men, Owston, like Clarke, an outstanding 'rising star'. At about twenty past ten Clarke thought it high time for an end-of-set blues. This Alex Clarke Quartet gig set the standard, the Jazz Co-op's 2023 gig diary features many 'big names', they've got it all to do. It's going to be a fun year. Russell    
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