The Shirt Tail Stompers @ DJam 2020, Durham Town Hall - Jan. 25

(Review/photos by Russell)

DJam is one of the north east's hidden gems. The long weekend Lindy Hop event in Durham City attracted dancers from far and wide. Classes, workshops, dances...there was something for everyone. Bebop Spoken Here stumbled across the event researching the tour itineraries of one or two high profile musicians. What's this? A gig for such and such somewhere in Durham? A dance event of some kind? Further research confirmed Steve Coombe's Shirt Tail Stompers would be part of DJam 2020 Lindy Hop Festival in the historic setting of Durham Town Hall. This was an event that could not be missed! 

The Dean Masser Quartet @ The Gala Theatre, Durham - Jan 24

Dean Masser (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Ed Harrison (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums)

(Review by Russell/ Photos courtesy of Malcolm Sinclair - link.

Print and online publicity for Friday's two gigs in a day featuring an all-star quartet - a lunchtime concert at Durham's Gala Theatre followed by an evening engagement at Opus 4 Jazz Club in Darlington - ranged from Dean Masser Quartet to Dean Masser-Dean Stockdale Quartet to Dean Masser with the Dean Stockdale Trio to Dean Stockdale Trio with Dean Masser...what's in a name? Especially as the Gala Theatre concert was, as usual, an advance sell out and the Traveller's Rest invariably pulls a good crowd.

Community Radio Waves! The Makar, Power Commandos, Darlington NOJB & Clifford Brown

(The Russell Report)

At five o'clock today (Saturday, Jan 25) the first of several radio programmes to be broadcast over the next seven days should be of interest to jazz fans. J to Z on BBC Radio 3 includes a performance by Calum Gourlay's quartet. At midnight, also on Radio 3, Corey Mwamba's Freeness features the music of Taupe, Tyneside's self-styled 'power-jazz commandos'. Tomorrow (Sunday) James Morrison presents the final part of his Radio 2 series Top Brass (9:00pm) which includes music from Louis Armstrong and Brass Funkeys (heard recently in Newcastle) followed at 10:00pm by The Swing and Big Band Show with Clare Teal.   

Blaydon Dates

March 15th
FINNTET - a new quintet led by a brilliant young drummer Abbie Finn, with Harry Keeble tenor sax. More info to follow.
Music from 7.30pm. Admission £7 - pay on entry.

April 19th
JAMES BIRKETT/BRADLEY JOHNSTON GUITAR DUO - an eclectic selection from right across jazz guitar repertoire and styles.
Music from 7:30pm. Admission £7 - pay on entry.

Remembering George Evans

Our historian in Hong Kong, Colin, came up with an interesting article and photo of the George Evans Orchestra which was resident at the Oxford Galleries, Newcastle, from 1951 to 1958. 

Quite a few well known names in the band such as Malcolm Mitchell and Eric Jupp who went on to form their own big bands and Freddy Syer and Don Rendell - both national jazz names. Rendell toured with Stan Kenton as well as giving a legendary concert with the Newcastle Big Band.

Evans, after a period of retirement returned to playing in the northeast and was a regular guest at Blaydon Jazz Club. 

Ten saxes!

Lance

Elaine Willis clip: https://youtu.be/tZyvZDgFskw
Leslie Evans writes about his brother George.

EP Review: Mette Juul: New York - Copenhagen

Mette Juul (vocal); Mike Moreno (guitar tracks 1, 2 & 5), Ulf Wakenius (guitar track 3); Per Mallehøj (guitar track 4); Lars Danielsson (bass tracks 3 & 4).

(Review by Lance)

Mette's fifth album and the third to be reviewed by BSH*. It may be her best yet - the voice is beguiling, captivating, the person you feel you've waited all your life to meet despite the fact that, in my case, she wasn't born for most of it!

The Copenhagen based Danish singer's aim is to try and capture the difference between the pulsating, vibrant energy of New York and the Nordic simplicity and warmth of her youth.

Frog and Henry @ Carlisle Jazz Club - January 23

(Review by Russell)

Frog and Henry's current British tour included a return visit to Carlisle Jazz Club. An idea sprung to mind...let's take a scenic Tyne Valley train journey to Cumbria's county town to hear the band for the third time in twelve months. Gigs in Darlington and Newcastle had been a great success and this unseasonably mild mid-winter date promised to live up to expectations. 

Carlisle Jazz Club meets on a weekly basis at Carlisle Rugby Club. As the band took to the stage club organisers confessed that musicians of this quality dont't come round every week! The Louisiana-Oxfordshire based five piece features two Canadians, one German, one American and one Brit - the in-demand Ewan Bleach who bases himself this side of the Atlantic with a busy schedule on the London scene and beyond. 

Preview: Joe McPhee Trio

(JNE Press release)

Sunday 2nd February 8.00pm (doors 7.30pm)

The Bridge Hotel - Newcastle

£10 / £8 Concessions

JOE MCPHEE TRIO

Joe McPhee (Reeds and Brass) / John Pope (Bass) / Paul Hession (Drums)

Multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee is one of free jazz’s legends, a key participant in the musical revolution that swept out from New York in the 1970s. Now aged 80, he continues to tour worldwide, playing with undiminished fire and imagination, and displaying an insatiable appetite for throwing himself into new situations.

A great example of that came at the 2018 Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music, when he played a memorable concert alongside bassist John Pope and drummer Paul Hession. It was a brand new trio, with no opportunity for rehearsal, but there was instantaneous chemistry, with Joe switching between tenor sax and trumpet, and John and Paul in perfect synch with his every move. The results were so good that all three agreed they’d like to do it again.

Air4ce @ The Quakerhouse, Darlington - Jan 22

(Review by Russell)

BSH couldn't get along to Tuesday's performance in Newcastle making this Darlington gig all the more eagerly anticipated. The Cluny's stage isn't the biggest but in comparison to the Quakerhouse in Darlington it is of arena dimensions. The pub in Mechanics' Yard can accommodate a quartet, maybe a quintet, and that makes it something of a squeeze. As Air4ce took to the stage the main man, Tom Atkinson, suggested a round of applause was due for cramming nine musicians onto its postage stamp stage!

Tom Rainey Trio @ The Bridge Hotel, Newcastle - Jan. 22

Tom Rainey (drums); Ingrid Laubrock (alto sax/soprano sax); Mary Halvorson (guitar).

(Review by Lance/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew - link).

I occasionally dispense with the safety net and check out what's happening at the pointy end. One set is usually enough before I head to the hills or, to be more precise, the nearest bar bemoaning what these infidels have done to the music that I have loved for so long.

I feared last night might well turn out to be more of the same and I'm pleased to say I was totally wrong and in complete agreement with the crowded upper room at Newcastle's Bridge Hotel who gave this transatlantic trio a resounding roar of approval after the opening improvisation.