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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 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 @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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

Monday, February 27, 2023

Ant Law and Alex Hitchcock Quartet @ the Bridge Hotel - Feb. 25 (Take Two)

(© Ken Drew)

Some gigs make a big impression and lodge in your memory, for a host of reasons: the music, obviously,  but also the band, the audience, the venue, the vibe. This was one of those gigs!

Presented by Jazz North East, a return to upstairs at the Bridge Hotel as part of their policy to spread the love around great Newcastle venues. The event was pretty well sold out to capacity, and the reputation of the band could be measured by the stature of the many top north-east musicians in the audience rather than on stage for a change.

I was expecting a night of dazzling technique and clever composition, as all four virtuoso players are composers and band leaders and in their own right. I wasn’t disappointed in that regard, but what I wasn’t expecting was to be as shaken up and moved by the emotion and energy of a band in full flight, while also in full empathy with each other. 

Sensitively supportive ensemble playing, with uncannily precise unison playing, loose forms – solos merging into ensemble playing,  blending into a continuous, swirling and satisfying whole. If at times I didn’t know what was going on, or lost track of time signature or form, no matter - the telepathic musicality of the band swept us along in a rollicking helter skelter of varied grooves and textures.  

At the centre of the melodic maelstrom, the most remarkable rhythm section I’ve seen in many a year!  As the band trooped on, the statuesque Høiby dwarfed the diminutive Sun-Mi Hong. But any pre-conceived notions were soon dispelled as she delivered a masterclass of energetic but subtle drumming – roiling waves of sound interspersed with staccato offbeats,  and constantly shifting focus and texture.  Jasper Høiby, the renowned founder of jazz super-trio Phronesis, deployed his uniquely elegant rhythmic drive to great effect, propelling the band to ever greater heights. I last saw him at Sage Gateshead with Phronesis, but here he seemed a different character altogether: Nordic austerity replaced by jaunty smiles and hip wiggles, taking obvious delight in the playful interchanges between four master musicians. 

The twin leads of Law and Hitchcock took full advantage of such a platform and delivered a superb and under-stated reprise of numbers from Law’s recent album, Same Moon in the Same World.  Law’s subtle playing eschews the obvious plank-spanking motifs, preferring an array of seemingly relaxed effects and magical sounds conjured from the guitar.  

The high points of the night for me, apart from a drum solo which brought the biggest applause of the night, were the final two numbers: an “experimental” very tuneful new song Colours, and the stunning A Low Glow from the album to finish. Høiby changed up a gear for a solo here which was a sublime moment of musicality, transcending the physical limits the upright bass imposes on mere mortals. And in case we thought they were all about energy, groove and flying fingers, the elegiac Don't Wait Too Long managed to bring a tear to my eye as I gazed through the Bridge’s historic stained glass windows at the crescent moon and lit up trains passing in the night….

All in all, quite a night to remember and four names to watch whatever they do next. Chris K

1 comment :

Brian Bennett said...

Many thanks for your superbly written and detailed review, Chris. Although I wasn’t there you gave me a vivid impression of the performance, atmosphere and venue. Great stuff!

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