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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17945 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far, 22 this month (April 8).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

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, October 04, 2024

Joel Frahm Trio/Saul Duff's Dufftet @ Seven Arts, Leeds - Oct. 3

© Patti
Joel Frahm (tenor sax); Dan Loomis (double bass); Ernesto Cervini (drums)

To pack an overnight bag and jump onto a Transpennine Express down to Leeds suggests that something special was afoot ... and it was!

Last month I reviewed Lumination by the Joel Frahm Trio (HERE) and my immediate reaction was an urge to see/hear this trio live. When the word got out that they were doing a European tour with four dates in the UK and that one of them was 'down the road' at Seven Arts in Leeds the die was cast.

If I'd had any pre-gig reservations they were soon disposed of. From the opening bars of  The Nurse is in this was everything I hoped for and more. Frahm's fingers producing amazingly fast phrases and runs that came from subterranean depths up to  altissimo heights and higher. At times, by some saxophonic jiggery-pokery, he managed to blow two notes at once - or so it seemed!

Nor is the saxman from Racine, Wisconsin averse to throwing in a quote or six. With some players it may seem like a paucity of ideas but with Frahm they all come across as logical. At times he also gets that tough Texas tenor sound which isn't surprising as he's now on the faculty of Texas State Uni.

On drums, Ernesto Cervini is a powerhouse. Whether unleashing a battery of sound, sensitive brushwork or subtle hand-drumming, he delivers. Ernesto too composes - I think the opening The Nurse is in came from his pen (or whatever composers use these days!). An absolutely tremendous set. 

This was the trio's third visit to Seven Arts, let's hope they're back again in the not too distant future.

Numbers included: The Nurse is in; Thinking of Benny (for Benny Golson); The Road; Disco Nern; Moonface Lament; Vesper Flights; Doo Dip Dip.

Saul Duff's Dufftet: Saul Duff (tenor sax); Felix Burling (trumpet); Joseph Frost-Tesfaye (piano); Joe Wilkes (double bass); Oli Reeves (drums)

© Patti
Earlier, Saul Duff's Dufftet played a stellar opening set that prepared the audience, who'd turned out in their numbers, for what was to follow. The programme of originals by Saul Duff was interesting and varied ranging from hard bop to a contemporary mode with a few areas in between.

A band to keep an eye out for. Lance

Memory; Inspiration; Rainy Day; Night Drive; Duff Samba; The Brook
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