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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

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

Friday, August 23, 2024

Brilliant Brush-Work! The Paul Edis Trio @ The Gala, Durham – August 23

© Malcolm Sinclair
Paul Edis (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums)

This first concert in the Gala’s Tenth Anniversary Series (gosh, is it really that long?) began, appropriately, with Paul paying tribute again to the late Brian Ebbatson. His words (which have appeared earlier in these pages) were also given prominence in the programme notes. Brian was also referenced in the introduction to the sixth tune on the set-list: It Is What It Is and there was a collection after the show for Brian’s nominated charities: Macmillan Nurses and Saint Cuthbert’s Hospice. The gig, I’d have to say, was a joyous celebration which was all, like that sixth tune, very much “for Brian”.

© Malcolm Sinclair
Whiskers opened the show and immediately put Russ Morgan to the fore. All three of these musicians are top performers but for me, today, his drumming stood out! Apart from giving it some stick in a solo on the harum-scarum bus-ride entitled Madeira, I only clocked him using sticks for a few seconds here and there in the whole of the show. Everything else was “whiskers” which, thanks to some newly acquired hearing aids, I could actually hear clearly for the first time in years. In name-checking Russ at the end of the tune Paul referenced Ed Thigpen – praise indeed!

After the ups and downs of Snakes and Ladders we had The Start of the Journey written in New York about the mix of anxiety and excitement felt before a big challenge. I’d not heard this tune before (it’s not been recorded yet) and I liked it very much. I could imagine it as part of a film score – a bit like the Gershwin + NY skyline at the start of Woody Allen’s Manhattan. Paul confessed at the end of the tune that he’d forgotten to give Russ Morgan the music for it: I don’t think anyone in the audience would have guessed that, so flawless was the performance!

Start Over was cheerily optimistic: Andy Champion’s bass solo sounded positively chirpy – one of several excellent solos on the day. Another new tune to me – a “world premiere” apparently – called Good Times was next. Its composer described it as “gospelly” – it certainly was uplifting with infectious rhythms and oodles of my favourite piano style which led, somewhat surprisingly, into a few minutes of audience participation. We were invited to clap on alternate beats and then sing no fewer than three different parts with sections of the audience responsible for each! It could have been chaos but oh, no it wasn’t – it worked, people all joined in and to me, the harmony sounded good (and my hearing aids do not lie!). Paul’s years of doing panto have borne strange fruit!

Given that all of today’s tunes were Edis originals: the variety of styles and moods was indeed impressive.

The show over-ran by a few minutes to accommodate the aptly named The End – a bluesy number which again was new to me. I liked this one, too! Paul prefaced this number by reassuring the audience that anyone who had to leave (to catch a bus, or whatever) could do so. No one moved!

More gigs are planned through to January 2025. Book early as the tickets fly off the shelf! Jerry

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