The Bold Big Band @ the Dun Cow, Jesmond - March 26

(Review/PHOTOS by Lance),

Wow! This is a band!! It's just over 12 months to the day since last I heard them during which time, as with any predominantly student based outfits, there have been changes. However, as in all walks of life, nobody's indispensable and the new ensemble delivered with style and grace.

Jimmy Jefford, the previous MD, got the best out of the band leading from the front and throwing in some killer solos. Simon Hirst, the current MD is less flamboyant but equally effective and, if you wanted killer solos then Jordan Alfonso, James Cuxson and Tom Alcorn were the foremost assassins, although most of the others weren't far behind.

Apart from the soloists, the sections were tight with no noticeable jagged edges. Every modern big band these days has a wadge of Gordon Goodwin arrangements in the pad and the Bold Big Band is no exception. His Count Bubba had some precision playing by the individual sections as well as a sizzler of a solo from Alfonso. 

DJAZZ 2019 Update and launch details

After last year's highly successful DJAZZ - Durham City Jazz Festival - details of this year's event will be revealed at a launch evening in the Courtyard Café featuring Hand to Mouth (Lindsay Hannon - voice & Bradley Johnston - guitar).

For further information and early bird tickets click here.

Lance.

Maja Bugge 'Sounds of the Underground' @ Victoria Tunnel, Newcastle - March 16

(Review by Iain Kitt/photo courtesy of Ken Drew)

The Victoria Tunnel in Newcastle’s Ouseburn is fast establishing itself as one of the City’s most unusual and exciting music venues. The latest in its ‘Sounds from the Underground’ series featured two sell-out performances by the Norwegian cellist Maja Bugge.

Maja is no stranger to playing in unusual venues. Previous ones have included a disused oil tank and a canal tunnel under the Pennines. She is particularly interested in the interplay between her chosen instrument and the space in which she performs.

The cello is often described as possessing a uniquely soulful sound and certainly it was ideally suited both to the rather constricted space inside the tunnel and the unusual acoustic that it produces. With the audience sat in rows of just two people and, for the first set at least, in virtually total darkness, the music became completely absorbing.

Jason Isaacs @ Hoochie Coochie - March 24

(Review/PHOTOS by Lance).

Hoochie was sold out - it usually is when Jason brings his band into town - the audience loves him,  and what's not to love? Sinatra, Dean, Elvis you name it he covers it and, with a 9 piece band behind him it's just fantastic.

She gets too hungry for dinner at eight. Rodgers and Hart in a Sunday afternoon disco bar! What's more, it was as if two of the most prolific songwriters of the pre-crap era had never been away. Lady is a Tramp. Bad, Bad, Leroy Brown put the boot in and we were dancing, shaking, doing things that they don't do on Broadway. Let There be Love, J boy reminded us it was Nat Cole's centenary making reference to the original Shearing recording, reminding the Toon Army that Shearing and Shearer were two different artists. 

One was blind who never failed to score (Lullaby of Birdland etc.) The other wasn't blind and sometimes did fail to score...

Boys of Brass @ Tyne Bank Brewery - March 23

Ben Thornley (vocals, guitar); Robert McBurnie (trumpet); Steven Symonds (trumpet); Chris Bentham (trombone); John Philip Rudkin (mellophonium); Phil Rosier (tuba); Ian Wynd (drums)

(Review by Russell) 

Tyne Bank Brewery's self-proclamation that its Walker Road brewery and tap room is 'nowt special' is slightly tongue in cheek. An old industrial building not far from the Tyne has been transformed from a state of slow decline into a thriving micro pub with gleaming new brewing plant attached (see photo). Music is an integral part of the business and on a mild, late March Saturday evening the Boys of Brass were in town.

Q3, ETA 7:15, A-OK. Yes, the Quaylink bus from the city centre stops, rather conveniently, right outside the Tyne Bank's spacious HQ. Up a flight of steps, through the door and...it was busy, busy, busy. Side-stepping a friendly table tennis match (its that kind of hip place), looking for a seat (some occupied by canines and their well-behaved owners), a trip to the bar (Silver Dollar the choice), the Boys of Brass would soon be pumping-up the volume.

Daniel Herskedal, Paul Taylor @ Sage Gateshead - March 23.

Daniel Herskedal (tuba/bass trumpet); Bergmund Waal Skaslien (viola); Eyolf Dale (piano); Helge Andreas Norbakken (percussion). 

(Review by Lance/PHOTOS courtesy of Ken Drew).

I'd missed Herskedal's previous appearances at Sage Gateshead although the near capacity, Sage Two, Level One, audience obviously hadn't. Across the great divide in Sage One, The Rumours of Fleetwood Mac 50th Anniversary Tour was also packing them in - in even greater numbers!

As a once owner of the original Rumours LP I'd have probably gone myself for nostalgic reasons but, duty called...

CD Review: Ben Crosland Quintet- The Ray Davies Songbook Volume II

Ben Crosland (bass); Dave O'Higgins (tenor/soprano saxes); John Etheridge (guitar); Steve Lodder (piano/keys); Sebastiaan de Krom (drums).

(Review by Lance).

Ray Davies, in my opinion, was every bit the songwriting genius that Lennon and Macca were. Even without the lyrics, the music stands on its own two feet which is more than you can say for many of the Beatles' numbers.

I discovered this after listening to Volume 1 of Ben Crosland's take on the Ray Davies Songbook and, almost three years on, Volume II has reinforced that opinion.

O'Higgins is at his finest on both Bb horns, Etheridge reinforces his position in the top echelon of jazz guitarists goosed along by a rhythm section that's just Dandy! Not all of the tracks are numbers that hit the top twenty, several were B-sides which, in retrospect, had they been given the  same amount of airplay that the A-sides received back in the day when pop fans studied the MM/NME charts as avidly as stockbrokers consulted the Financial Times then some of these gems would have had the recognition they deserved.

Andy Lawrenson Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle - March 21

Andy Lawrenson (violin, vocals); Simon O'Byrne (guitar, vocals); Paul Grainger (double bass)

(Review by Russell) 

Andy Lawrenson described those taking their seats in Prohibition Bar as being part of a 'select' audience. On such occasions there seems to be a closer bond between musician and audience - the musician is there to play and the audience, such as it was, was there to listen.

The Andy Lawrenson Trio knows Prohibition Bar well having performed there last year although there was one major difference - Mitch Mitchell's gaff has since packed up lock, stock and barrel and crossed the Tyne from Brandling Street, Gateshead to Pink Lane, Newcastle. Otherwise, the place is much the same and, what's more, the late Keith Crombie would surely have approved of the changes made to what was once his gaff - that's the old Jazz Café - minus the clutter!  

‘Trad Jazz & Barbecue’ - Coach Trip to The Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass

Proprietors, Vicki & Tony Jowett, are celebrating their 5th Anniversary managing the Buck Inn, Thornton Watlass, with a splendid 'Jazz Barbecue Afternoon' and the Vieux Carré Jazzmen will perform in the beer garden at the rear of the pub.* 

The BBQ is a bargain £5 and will comprise Homemade Burgers in buns with fried onions and cheese (if wanted), Local Butcher's Sausages in bread rolls, salads and coleslaw - tickets will be sold at the bar to exchange for the BBQ - sandwiches and simple lunches such as Fish 'n' Chips will also be available between 12.00—2.00pm. 

*weather permitting - alternatively, we'll be in the function room.

CD Review: Laurence Hopgood - tesseterra .

Laurence Hopgood (piano); Matthew Clohesy (bass); Jared Schonig (drums).

ETHEL: Ralph Farris (viola); Kip Jones (violin); Dorothy Lawson (cello); Corin Lee (violin).

(Review by Lance).

Described by pianist Hopgood as "third stream nouveau" - do we really need another genre? - tessaterra, a word of Hopgood's invention that roughly translates as "the sonic fabric of the world", features the former arranger, and associate of Kurt Elling, with his trio and a string quartet in support. 

With such profundity and the improbably named string quartet - ETHEL - in attendance, I anticipated seven original compositions with bizarre titles such as Lucretia Borgia's Farewell Toast.