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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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

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, July 29, 2024

Sunday night @ the Globe - The Jeffrey Hewer Collective - July 28

Jeffrey Hewer (guitar); Eliot Richards (tenor sax); Elliot Roffe (bass); Steve Hanley (drums)

After Saturday night's party atmosphere on the streets of Newcastle's city centre, by comparision, Sunday night was relatively quiet. Perhaps the weather had drawn the populace to the sun-kissed beaches of Whitley Bay or South Shields. Certainly the sun hadn't enticed them to the Globe even though it shone brightly through the jazz bar's windows daring the curtains to be drawn to create an intimate jazz club atmosphere. Alas King Sol won the day and the curtains remained undrawn.

At first it looked as though the band were going to outnumber the audience but, as the Hewer Collective prepared to kick start proceedings with a belting original - Westfield Blues - the ratio had risen to over 3:1 in favour of the audience. I was beginning to feel claustrophobic.

Sun or no sun the room should have been crowded. What was there not to like? Without a Song, with a nod towards Sonny Rollins from Richards and to Joe Pass from Hewer (he even looks like the late maestro). This  had the hard bop feel of a night at, say, the Village Vanguard. This was good and it was getting better by the minute.

Steve Hanley, one of the UK's top drummers opted for the most minimalist of drum kits: snare drum, bass drum, hi-hat and a couple of ride cymbals. No tom-toms or tiddly-om-pom-poms. What you saw is what you got and Steve got plenty out of his set-up.

Bass and tenor were new names to me and both were called Elliot/Eliot. I've never came across a band where half of them were called Elliot or a variation of but it seemed to be a good formula.

Polka Dots and Moondreams is a beautiful ballad, despite Johnny Burke's lyric which didn't do the 'pug-nosed dream' any favours as Eliot the sax pointed out. Nevertheless, the tune made up for it as did the band's sympathetic approach.

Back to Bopland for Bud Powell's John's Abbey with a fantastic bass and drums workout. Roffe gets a great bass sound and, even though he isn't called Elliot, Hanley produced some magical sounds from the means at his disposal.

The set concluded with You Stepped Out of a Dream and the band stepped out to catch the setting sun. The audience stayed put. Nobody was leaving.

Cole Porter's Everything I Love was beautifully rendered. A nice easy swing that preceded Hewer's own Lean  In To It which in turn was followed by Embraceable You. The Gershwin tune didn't quite cut it for me although this was possibly because it was bookended by the aforementioned Lean  In To It and Benny Golson's Stablemates - two Derby winners.

Danish drummer Snorre Kirk's Going Up inspired a couple to put some dance moves to the music. The two genres synchronized well.

To finish, what could be better than Dizzy's Woody 'n' You? Some good old bebop served up for today. If you missed it in favour of Acapulco or Cullercoats just remember that your sun tan will eventually fade but music like this is timeless. Lance

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