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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18001 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 422 of them this year alone and, so far, 100 this month (May 31).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sat 07: Midnite Follies Orchestra @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. All-star line-up.
Sat 07: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Jazz Blues. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 07: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 07: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 07: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Haydon Bridge Festival, Low Hall Park, Haydon Bridge. 4:00-6:00pm.
Sat 07: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: Ella Hohnen Ford @ Alfie & Fin’s, Tynemouth. 7:00pm. £15.00.
Sat 07: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 07: SH#RP collective w. Lindsay Hannon @ The Holy Name Parish Hall, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £15.00.
Sat 07: Fergus McCreadie Trio @ St. Mary's Church, Church St., Wooler, Northumberland NE71 6DA. 7:30pm.
Sat 07: Kahil El’Zabar’s Ethnic Heritage Ensemble @ Colbalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £13.28. - £17.51.
Sat 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm.
Sat 07: Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 07: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:00pm. Free.

Sun 08: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Whitehouse St., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Guest Neil Brodie (trumpet) joins the quintet for the first in a new monthly residency.
Sun 08: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 08: Lady Nade @ Middlesbrough Town Hall. 3:00pm (2:00pm doors). £21.50. ‘Nina Simone’.
Sun 08: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 08: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 08: Jeff Hewer Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 09: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tue 10: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Terrace, Seaton Delaval NE25 0AT. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. Tickets: £10.50. Pie ‘n’ Pea lunch. Steak pie supplied by the Colliery Bakery.

Wed 11: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 11: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 11: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 12: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Strike a Chord in F.
Thu 12: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Thu 12: Sophie Gordon Band @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 6:30pm. Light rock and pop.
Thu 12: Jazz Guys @ Tynedale Beer & Cider Festival, Tynedale Rugby Club, Corbridge. 8:00pm.
Thu 12: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm.
Thu 12: Robert Cray @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Blues.
Thu 12: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. PJO with special guest Graham Hardy.

Fri 13: Mick Donnelly Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ FIKA Art Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 6:00pm.
Fri 13: Hot Club du Nord @ Stocksfield Community Centre. 7:00pm.
Fri 13: Customs House Big Band @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm.
Fri 13: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Blues.

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

Wednesday, December 03, 2014

CD Review: Samuel Eagles Quartet - Next Beginning - LIVE TONIGHT @ THE GLOBE NEWCASTLE (8pm £10)!


(I make no apologies for re-posting this CD review as the band are appearing tonight at the latest Jazz Co-op gig at The Globe. If they are only half as good as they are on the CD it would still be one helluva gig! However, I confidently expect them to be even better live! Don't miss out! - Lance)
Samuel Eagles (alt/sop); Ralph Wyld (vib); Fergus Ireland (bs); Eric Ford (dms).
(Review by Lance).
What a talented family the Eagle Clan must be! Brother Duncan has already achieved recognition with the contemporary trio Partikel and now, Sibling Samuel has emerged from the eyrie in full flight displaying a technique well capable of expressing the multitudinous rush of ideas that flow from his head/soul via either alto or soprano.
Tutoring by such greats as Mornington Lockett, Jean Toussaint and Jason Yarde, among others (no doubt brother Duncan also threw in his tenpenneth), have ensured that Samuel has tread the path of musical righteousness. Eagles cites his influences as ranging from Charlie Parker to Kenny Garrett with a nod towards Ambrose Akinmusire and Logan Richardson which is no bad place to be.
Eight original compositions, tried and tested on the London gig scene, prove that not only is Eagles a saxophone player to be reckoned with but a top notch composer too!
On this CD he is in the company of his equally talented peers. Ralph Wyld, currently studying at the Royal Academy of Music under Nick Smart and Jim Hart,  is an emerging malleteer exploring the possibilities of the vibraphone. No longer dismissed as a "Miscellaneous Instrument" by Down Beat, although the British Jazz Awards still include the instrument in that slightly derogatory category (Jim Hart was last year's winner) there is nothing miscellaneous about Wyld's playing. pithy, and swinging like his mentor.
Ferg Ireland, another regular on the London scene, arrived via Trinity and RAM before making his mark with some of the capital's A-listers such as Nat Facey, James Maddren and Jay Phelps. Here, he is the veritable rock around which the session is built.
On drums, Eric Ford, well known for his work with Eagles Major in Partikel, provides plenty of  F-IRE power on this session driving, cajoling, spurring the soloists on, pushing them to the brink then bringing them back.
An exhilarating date. I can imagine Eagles saying. "Follow that bro!"
Samuel Eagles Quartet - Next Beginning will be officially released on the F-IRE presents label  on November 10 and launched on November 16 at Pizza Express, Dean St., Soho.
The quartet play several dates promoting the album commencing on Sept. 20 at Lancaster Jazz Festival.
Lance.
PS: The Paul Edis Sextet present their Mr Hipster album that same day at the same festival giving fans an additional incentive to cross the Pennines!

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