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Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, 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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 202

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Willington Town Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Market Place, Spennymoor, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
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.

Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Trimdon Community College, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Blackhill & Consett Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: NONUNONU @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £11:55 (inc bf).

Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ North Terrace, Seaham, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Knats: Masterclass & jam session @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Rat Pack - Live in Concert @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. A Hoodoo Blues dance class & social. Social & Front Porch Three only from 8:30pm. £5.00.

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, July 17, 2024

The Just Friends Black Swan jam session - July 16

Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums) + Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Conor Emery (trombone); Kate O'Niell (vocals); Edgar Bell (cornet); Dan Potter (drums); Liam Oliver (guitar); John Rowland (tenor sax); Daisy (vocals); Esther Coombes (clarinet, alto sax); Lisa (vocals); Theo Nolan (drums); Ian Drever (vocals); Patrick (guitar); Ian White (tenor sax); David Gray (trombone, trumpet); Remy Coulthard Boardman (vocals) 

The rain hammered down. What's new? Turning into the courtyard of Newcastle Arts Centre, pools of water stood everywhere. Splish! Splash! No one but no one would venture out tonight, would they? Mine host, Kay, took pity on the bedraggled, opening the doors half an hour before the advertised time. 

Descending the stairs - squelch, squelch - it became apparent the roof was leaking! Strategically placed kitchen roll in front of the house Gretsch kit soaked up the constant drip, drip, drip of rainwater. Summertime? Ha! Mad dogs or jazz fans, foolishly or otherwise, the regulars and more than a few newbies braved the elements. The house trio - the irrepressible Alan Law, piano, jam session MC, Paul Grainger, bass, and award-winning drummer Abbie Finn - opened up with Who Can I Turn to? The Anthony Newley-Leslie Bricusse number proved to be a welcome departure from the usual jam session fayre.

The Black Swan jam session is, if nothing else, a friendly affair. MC Grainger invited the first of the evening's hopefuls to join the trio, tenor saxophonist Harry Keeble. When HK is around it's time to straighten up and listen. I Could Write a Book - excellent. Responding to the call: Conor Emery to the main deck*, recent graduate student musician Conor Emery, cradling his trombone, skirted around the sodden patch on the basement's tiled floor. The Sidewinder upped the ante, HK and CE tearing into the Lee Morgan classic. Just Friends summed up what the Black Swan is all about - the rhythm section cooking, the front line knocking out first rate solos. 

Accompanied by Edgar Bell's distinctive cornet sound and Liam Oliver's excellent guitar playing, Kate O'Niell sang Stormy Weather. John Rowland called Blues Walk - good choice! Excellent contributions from JR, Liam Oliver and the rhythm section powered along Blakey-style by Abbie Finn. Daisy sang Cry Me a River with Esther 'Excellent Attendance' Coombes on clarinet. Lisa handed out charts to the house trio, choosing to sing a heart-wrenching Misty. 

A changing of the guard found Theo Nolan behind the traps and Patrick playing guitar. The two tenors of John Rowland and Ian White (Esther on alto sax) went round and round with Watermelon Man. In recent weeks Patrick has got the hang of this jam session thing, as for Ian White, our tenor man is a welcome presence anytime. Dat Dere a great choice with more of the propulsive Blakey drive courtesy of A. Finn. 

Ian Drever reprised a Foggy Day (Alan Law expertly charting a course out of the pea-souper), then, before we knew it, the Good Ship Black Swan was in open water. Remi CB (that's Remi Coulthard Boardman) rocked up to sing, really sing, Etta James' classic I Just Want to Make Love to You with bar-walking tenor from H. Keeble. Superb! As the Good Ship Black Swan sailed into the sunset, all hands were summoned to blow on Impressions. It had been yet another canny night down on Westgate Road. The next one (Tuesday August 6, 7:30pm sharp) is sure to be every bit as good.          
                  
 * Conor Emery is soon to embark on the trip of a lifetime. Our affable, excellent trombonist has landed himself a proper job and a plum one at that. From Newcastle University to a sunshine cruise ship engagement. From all at the Black Swan jam session - Good luck and bon voyage!         
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