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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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

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, February 27, 2025

Emily Masser Quintet @ Scarborough Jazz Club - Feb. 26

Emily Masser (vocals); Dean Masser (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Adrian Knowles (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums)

Fully three quarters of an hour before the start of this evening's Scarborough Jazz Club concert a queue snaked down Cambridge Terrace. Minutes after the doors opened it was standing-room only. Some punters had travelled a distance - from Newcastle, from London, from all points of the compass. Everyone present knew it promised to be a special occasion....    

In recent years Alex Clarke, Xhosa Cole, Emma Rawicz and others have emerged on the jazz scene as promising young musicians (some of them award-winning musicians). At Scarborough Jazz Club, Emily Masser was to demonstrate beyond a shadow of a doubt that she too is a promising young musician, no, make that a 'rising star'. 

Poise, presence, phrasing, Ms Masser ticked every box. Connecting with her audience, our rising star just happened to be working with an ace band - pianist Dean Stockdale, bassist Adrian Knowles, drummer Gaz Hughes (now there's a trio and a half!) and one D. Masser (tenor sax). Yes, Emily's father Dean was on the gig! From the opening number - Burton Lane's Old Devil Moon - our Guildhall undergraduate held the audience in the palm of her hand. 

Touring/promoting her new album Songs with My Father, Masser engaged her audience - and burgeoning fan club  - in classic style, ie. Sinatra-style, crediting the songwriters, then putting her own stamp on the songs. Masser's 'backing band' couldn't be bettered, the two Deans knocking out terrific solos (razor-sharp quotes ricocheting around the room), Knowles and Hughes imperious in the engine room. If I Were a Bell, a blistering Room 608, Body and Soul (a solo feature for Mr. M), Almost Like Being in Love, what a gig! 

Emily conducted a straw poll: would we like her to sing No More Blues in English or the same tune, Chega de Saudade, in Portuguese? Hands down we opted for the latter. And so she did, sing Jobim's tune in Portuguese, that is. Your correspondent's grasp of Portuguese is, well, non existent, nevertheless, it sounded pretty darn good! Emily dedicated the penultimate number of the evening to her late mother, Dean and Emily's Take a Little Time to Smile. A poignant moment. To close, Monk's Hackensack. The quintet knocked it out of the park. Wow! Just wow!

Check our Emily's website for tour dates www.emilymasser.co.uk. Go hear a rising star. Russell  
   
Set list: Old Devil Moon; Dat Dere; The Boy Next Door; East of the Sun and West of the Moon, If I Were a Bell, My One and Only Love; Room 608; Almost Like Being in Love; The Man I Love; Body and Soul; No More Blues; Take a Little Time to Smile; Hackensack. 

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