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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

17680 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 23 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Jan. 9).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Tue 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 15: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 15: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session. TBC.

Thu 16: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 17: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Joe Steels Trio w. Graham Hardy @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. (inc. a welcome drink & table reservation). Book at: www.drinks@thepele.co.uk. A ‘Jazz at the Pele’ promotion.
Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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.

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

Tue 21: ???

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

Thursday, August 01, 2024

Press release: Tommy Smith performs in sax and art spectacular at the Edinburgh Fringe

Credit Tommy Smith

Tommy Smith performs in sax and art spectacular at the Edinburgh Fringe

Saxophonist Tommy Smith reunites with the internationally acclaimed artist Maria Rud in their Luminescence show at St Giles's Cathedral in Edinburgh from Thursday 15th to Saturday 17th August.

Marking the Cathedral's 900th anniversary, Luminescence is part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and will see Smith and Rud conversing in their respective artforms, with Rud's painted images projected onto the magnificent stained-glass window on the East Wall inside the church.

“We’ll begin each performance with no preconceptions of the direction the narrative will take,” says Smith. “Maria and I are both aware of aspects of the Cathedral’s history and of the legend of St Giles himself, but we won’t have them in mind during the performance. I'll start to play and Maria will respond by painting whatever the sounds I make suggest to her.”

Smith and Rud have now worked together several times. The artist painted live in response to the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra’s Where Rivers Meet online celebration of saxophone pioneers Albert Ayler, Anthony Braxton, Ornette Coleman and Dewey Redman, which Smith directed and featured in. They have also performed Luminescence in St Giles’ Cathedral previously, including a run of dates last August, when The Scotsman described their performance as “one of the most spectacular experiences of the Fringe”.

Smith, who has played solo in cathedrals and churches across the UK, is full of enthusiasm for St Giles' acoustics and feels that solo saxophone is the perfect instrument for the space. 

“I’ve played solo concerts where I've concentrated on mostly well-known melodies but Luminescence, being completely spontaneous, is different," he says. "Although I’m playing solo, I’m composing in the moment and I can see that Maria's reacting to me, and I'm reacting to her rhythmically."

St Giles’ Cathedral has been at the centre of events throughout history, including the Scottish Reformation in the sixteenth century. As well as being a working church, it is an important centre for civic services and in September 2022 it was the scene of Queen Elizabeth’s lying in state before her funeral in London.

“As a boy growing up in Edinburgh, I was always aware of St Giles’, although mostly from a distance,” says Smith. “It’s a big, awesome space inside, with wonderful architecture and an amazing stillness. We find inspiration from just being there, so it's a new experience every time for us.”

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