RIP Papa Bue

Danish trad legend Papa Bue died yesterday aged 81. Perhaps the continent's most well known band in that idiom Papa Bue is also well-remembered in the North East because of his association with former River City Jazzmen trumpet player Joe Errington who played in the band for quite a number of years.
Here is a YouTube clip.
Obituary.
Lance.

Late News - Tonight at Hoochie.

Some last minute gig news for tonight.
Peter Gilligan (pno), Mark Williams (gtr), Paul Grainger (bs); Ian Forbes (dms) are at Hoochie Coochie tonight.8-9pm at the 54 Pilgrim Street hot spot known as Hoochie Coochie.
It's free admission.
Lance.

The Bud Tones at Hoochie Coochie Thursday 3rd November 2011

Fiona Littlewood (vcl/ten); Stu Findon (ten); Tim Knowles (gtr); Eric Mckenzie Stutt (dms); Harley Johnson (pno); Jim Crinson (dbl/elct bass).

Arriving late, I rushed in to the sounds of Psychedelic Sally . Next up was The Message which lost none of its funk from the previous number. Fi switched from mic to sax for this one. On came the interval and time for the band to mingle. The bar had plenty of punters and also a fair few musos to boot..

Second set kicked off with a very lively Cheesecake. Eric was swinging like a trouper, I don't know how he does it! Harleys turn to solo and it was great, his improvisation on this made total sense..

Fiona showed her multi-tasking abilities by singing and blowing sax on an original piece Stu's Blues albeit not at the same time. This girl's confidence is growing fast. As usual Stu's soloing was imaginative and smooth throughout, a real gem. Harley's original (of which I'm afraid I don't know the name) was heavy with Monk's influence yet still intriguing, kept strong by Jim's solid upright playing. His electric was sitting by the side and I wondered if I'd missed the chance of hearing him play it again. I fretted that I'd missed his nimble finger work by arriving late. I was wrong, it was back with a vengeance for 'The Jody Grind..You Don't Know What Love Is is a song I've heard Fiona sing so many times now but it never fails to impress me, it really shows the jazz element in her voice.. And here it was,, the solo I'd been waiting for from Tim Knowles. Boy, this guy knows how to funk up The Jody Grind. It was only a shame it didn't last longer.More tunes followed but to save my blathering on I'll leave it with this... a thoroughly enjoyable evening, this band gets better every time I hear them.

Claire Kelly.

Brass Jaw @ The Lit & Phil. November 3rd

Paul Towndrow (alto saxophone), Konrad Wiszniewski (tenor saxophone), Allon Beauvoisin (baritone saxophone) & Ryan Quigley (trumpet)

The Literary & Philosophical Library in Newcastle is the oldest private members' library outside of London. Down the years artists, writers, musicians, inventors, political figures, thinkers and others have visited the impressive rooms of this hidden gem of a building. In the early years of the 21st century add jazz musicians to the list of luminaries.

Brass Jaw - three saxophones, one trumpet - travelled south from Glasgow and east from Dublin. The Irish connection being that tenor player Konrad Wiszniewski negotiated a night off from his nice little earner touring the world with a pop megastar to come to Newcastle to play with his Scottish buddies. Now there's a guy who's got his priorities right!. Brass Jaw, albeit with a trumpeter, are from the long tradition of the saxophone quartet (World Saxophone Quartet, 29th Street Quartet, Saxophonics - to name but three). The Lit & Phil's first floor library with its wrought iron spiral staircases and balustrades and shelves upon shelves of books made for a highly unusual setting.

The quartet chose to play acoustically, the musicianship was of the highest order throughout two entertaining sets of original compositions and contemporary standards. The original material came from Brass Jaw's latest CD Branded. All four members of the quartet contributed material ranging from ballads to bop. Ryan Quigley's trumpet added pathos; a blues feel was never too far from the surface. Baritone saxophonist Allon Beauvoisin had such mastery of his instrument that lightening-fast bop lines were well within his capabilities. Towndrow and Wiszniewski played some killer solos and the whole performance exuded warmth, shot-through with humour. Any gig that can get away with the inclusion of versions of Drive My Car (The Beatles) andPeaches on Regalia (Frank Zappa) has got to be good and this was one such occasion.

Russell.

Whitley Bay Classic Jazz Party 2011

Day One saw Derek Fleck and myself, carefully supervised by Mrs Fleck a.k.a Grupenfuhrer Alice dishing out weekend passes to a truly cosmopolitan collection of musicians and fans. English was far from being the native tongue - there was even a gentleman from Japan - amongst this convivial bunch!

Mike Durham has to be congratulated on creating such a successful follow up to the late Whitley Bay Jazz Festival as ticket sales were close to capacity.

This didn't leave much time for actually listening as, after my Steward duties were over I had to return to the Domestic Front. However, I did manage to catch some Hot Antic, the French band being augmented on this occasion by Mike Durham, himself, on trumpet and vocals (in English), Kristoffer Kompen (trombone) and vibes wizard Raymond Graisier on, wait for it, washboard!

It was a fine example of classic jazz and the perfect start to what looks to be a grand weekend.

Lance.

R.I.P. Beryl Davis

Beryl Davis died Oct. 28 aged 87. A long time favourite of mine she made her first records at the age of 15 with Django and Stephane. During the Second World War she recorded many sides with Grappelli's Quintette, Miller's AEF Band and later with her father's band (Oscar Rabin and his Orchestra co-leader Harry Davis). After the war Beryl moved to the States where she had a successful career including a stint on the Hit Parade radio show with Frank Sinatra.

Here is Undecided one of the tracks recorded with the Hot Club. And in later years...

Sadly missed.

Obituary.

Lance.

Swing Swing Swing! The Benny Goodman Sextet Revisited - Sage, Gateshead.

Matthias Seuffort (clt); Enrico Tomasso (tpt); Keith Nichols (pno); Raymond Graisier (vbs); Martin Wheatley (gtr); Henry Lemaire (bs); Richard Pite (dms).

Of all the Goodman small groups I think the sextet was perhaps the most satisfying and tonight's ensemble did their best to rubber stamp that opinion - even though most of the time they were seven!

Seuffort is an excellent clarinettist with a BG-like fluency although I must confess I felt he didn't quite capture the Goodman tone. Likewise Wheatley played superbly but not quite Charlie Christian. No doubting vibes player Graisier - he has Hamp down to a tee on both vibes and one finger piano. Tomasso had limited solo work but when chance came his way he soared - A Smoooth One being a  fine example.

Keith Nichols kept out of the limelight apart from some pithy solos here and there. Even though Krupa wasn't a member of Benny's sextet (Nick Fatool/Dave Tough) Pite played as if he was with a solo on Sing Sing Sing that had sticks being expertly (ish) juggled. Great solo.

It was a good gig with this being the third consecutive neo-full house at The Sage that I've attended - they must be doing something right!

Lance.

Maine Street Jazzmen @ Rosie Malone's.

Herbie Hudson (tmb/hca/vcl); Jim McBriarty (clt/sop/vcl); George Richardson (pno); Alan Rudd (bs); Mike Humble (dms); Olive Rudd (vcl).

Another rosy afternoon at Rosie's. Good music, good company, good crowd, good beer.

End of review!

Lance.

PS: More to follow shortly!
PPS:  Olive singing One Two Button My Shoe and Keeping  Out of Mischief Now; Jim's po-faced vocal on Gonna Get a Girl, Herbie's Lazy River and George Rico's solos on just about everything he played.
You want Shangri-la? You got it!
Lance.

Things Ain't What They Used To Be

I visited two Newcastle music shops today. One, a store where I used to work, the other a store where I didn't used to work although some might say I didn't used to work in either. I was in search of a tenor saxophone thumb rest cushion. Naturally I tried my former employers first. The young man looked somewhat bemused until I described it as a piece of rubber that slides over the saxophone thumb rest. His eyes brightened as enlightenment took place. He offered me a clarinet thumb rest cushion. I explained to him that a clarinet was smaller than a tenor saxophone and that, as such, it wouldn't fit.

"All we have, I'm afraid."

I muttered an "It wouldn't have happened when I worked here" and headed down town to the other establishment.

The sales person here said, "That's a job for the repairman. Bring your instrument in and he'll fit it for you."

I said, "It's a piece of rubber that slides over the thumb rest." I may have inserted an Anglo-Saxon adjective into the sentence.

Once again enlightenment dawned and he too produced a clarinet thumb rest cushion. This placed me in a dilemma. I could either buy a clarinet to fit the cushion or else I could wait until my next visit to that sax emporium off Shaftesbury Avenue. As this will be in about 2 weeks time I opted for the latter option.

Lance.

A Monday Date

Next Monday's (Nov. 7) Jazz in the Afternoon session at the Crescent Club, Cullercoats, is a rather special one inasmuch as the regulars will be augmented by the following musicians from the Whitley Bay Jazz Party; Bent Persson (Sweden) on trumpet, Bernard Antherieu (France) clarinet and alto, Christian Lefevre (France) tuba and Michel "Doc" Bastide (France) cornet. Apart from Bent, they are all from the Hot Antic Jazz Band from the south of France.

Lance.