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Bebop Spoken There

Simon Spillett: “ Bebop and hard bop came naturally to him [Tubby Hayes]". Morning Star, March 28, 2024.

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Simon Spillett: A lovely review from the dean of jazz bloggers, Lance Liddle...

Josh Weir: I love the writing on bebop spoken here... I think the work you are doing is amazing.

Postage

16287 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 169 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (Mar 18).

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Gateshead Jazz Appreciation Society @ Gateshead Central Library, Gateshead. 2:30pm.
Thu 28: Richard Herdman Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 28: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Guests: Josh Bentham (alto sax); Alan Marshall (tenor sax); Neil Brodie (trumpet); Adrian Beadnell (bass); Graham Thompson (keys); Steve Hunter (drums).

Fri 29: FILM: Soul @ The Forum Cinema, Hexham. 12:30pm. Jazz-themed film animation.
Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 6:00pm. Free. POSTPONED!
Fri 29: Thundercat @ Newcastle City Hall.
Fri 29: John Logan @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 30: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 30: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Whitley Bay Library, York Road, Whitley Bay. 8:00pm.

Sun 31: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields NE30 1HJ. 3:00pm. Free. Lambert, Alan Law & Paul Grainger.
Sun 31: Sid Jacobs & Tom Remon @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. USA/London jazz guitar duo.
Sun 31: Bellavana @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

April
Mon 01: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free.

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Dean Stockdale, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Friday, May 27, 2016

Ingrid Jensen Quartet @ The Black Swan May 26












Ingrid Jensen (trumpet); Jez Franks (guitar); Andy Champion (bass); Tim Giles (drums)
(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew (right and Mike Tilley left)
This spectacular gig was another in the ‘Women Makes Music’ series and came to fruition as a result of 2 years’ worth of planning by NorVol (the network of Northern jazz promoters). Don’t you just love it when a plan comes together? The internationally renowned bandleader Ingrid Jensen teamed up with Londoners Jez Franks and Tim Giles and completing the quartet was Tyneside’s very own Andy Champion. Jensen flew in on Monday and the band had been rehearsing in the Jazz Café since Tuesday.  Thursday night was, therefore, the world premiere of this outfit which now embarks on a short Northern tour before finishing up with a gig at Ronnie Scott’s.
From the first note to the last, one can only describe the music emanating from the stage as pure class. Two superb sets separated by Jazz North East’s legendary raffle which Paul Bream introduces with a level of jocularity that Ronnie Scott would have been proud of.   The compositions from Ingrid Jenson were interspersed with interpretations of standards and other great composers including fellow Canadian trumpet player the late great Kenny Wheeler. There were also tunes from Ingrid’s younger saxophonist sister Christine and also one from guitarist Franks. The content of performance was wonderfully varied - slow, fast, free, melodious, quiet, loud, fierce and peaceful passages integrated throughout the evening.  Each member of the band excelled both individually and as part of the ensemble.  Franks and Giles I hadn’t heard before and I was suitably impressed. Andy Champion we already know is a superb bassist and Ingrid Jensen is simply a world class performer. The impressively sized audience loved every minute and at the end of the final number applauded vociferously and were rewarded with a masterful encore.
Ken Drew Photos.
Steve H.

2 comments :

Pam Young (on f/b) said...

Totally agree Steve this was a top class gig

Steven Tulip said...

Spare a thought for no. 1 son; his long-suffering girlfriends 18th birthday is kicking off at the 02 Academy and his guitar tutor for the next 4 years is playing the Swan. You couldn't make it up (unless of course you're Rowan Atkinson or Dawn French).
He was expecting a masterclass from Jez Franks and got one. Like Pat Metheny he's an all-rounder, a great follower with great technique, precision legato and never misses or plays a duff note. He 'beasted' it up during the first set and the chap on the next table was lost in the zone.
AC - nuff said.
Tim Giles played the Lifecycles at the Sage at the Festival so the 3 Jamboners there already knew him. He keeps time in his sleep and when awake he does all the other stuff as well, and what a nice, friendly lad too.
Ingrid Jenson was extremely impressive, both as musician and leader, exuding confidence: giving signals, counting them in, counting them out and openly giving verbal instructions.
Somebody said the band needed at least another horn but, in my view, the guitar bridges the gap between rhythm and trumpet better than a piano and whenever it felt like (ie)a sax should come in she'd change it round with pedals, loops or some fantastically subtle use of the mute.
It's probably lazy to compare every modern trumpet player to Miles but difficult to avoid, such was the scope of output in his long career(and it's possibly lazy to compare guitar and drums to McLaughlin and Williams respectively). We currently seem to be settled somewhere between the final acoustic albums of the Second Great Quintet and the rock stuff before it got ferocious, suggesting it takes about fifty years for the rest of us to catch up, but Ingrid slips effortlessly through what, at the time, was considered one of the most revolutionary changes in Jazz History.
Wheelers 'where do we go from here' could refer to the current state of politics in the US she suggested (and the UK) but, I propose, equally to the music or, as she put it, 'whatever it is we're doing.'
I like to buy an album at the gig, as much to support the artist, and they're always good, but hers is genuinely fantastic.
Since we're all at it, gig of the year so far? Quite possibly, and I didn't see it coming until: Zoe Gilby arrived - no surprise there - but then: Paul Edis, Chris Hibbard, Alice Grace, Johnny Donne, Graham Hardy, Abby Finn, Ros (recently retired from Sage) and aplogies to anyone git important I've missed, but it looked like it might be something special, and it was.

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