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Bebop Spoken There

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The Things They Say!

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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

Tue 19: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.

Wed 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 20: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 20: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, North Tyneside. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 21: Castillo Neuvo Trio + Conor Emery & His ‘Bones Band @ The Grove, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £10.00. (£7.00. student).
Thu 21: Remi Banklyn + Chris Corcoran Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.50. Chicago blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Thu 21: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime piano.
Thu 21: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 22: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 22: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 22: Nauta + Remy CB + Last Orders @ Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle. 8:30pm (7:30pm doors). Free.
Fri 22: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 22: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 23: Jambone @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:30pm. Free (ticketed). End of term performance in the Northern Rock Foundation Hall.
Sat 23: Milne-Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 23: Red Kites Jazz @ Rowlands Gill Community Centre NE39 1JB. 7:00pm. Tickets: £12.00. (gibsidecommunityfarm@gmail.com). A ‘Build a Barn’ fundraiser. BYOB, tea/coffee available.
Sat 23: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. + bf (book in person at venue - no booking fee!). Featuring pianist Martin Litton.
Sat 23: Pete Tanton’s Cuba Libre @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 24: Musicians Unlimited @ Park Inn, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 24: Luis Verde @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Verde (alto sax); Joe Steels (guitar); John Pope (double bass); John Hirst (drums). Alto sax brilliance!
Sun 24: Elsie Franklin @ The Globe, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Country blues. An International Guitar Foundation promotion.
Sun 24: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay Metro Station. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 24: Las Vegas Live with the Rat Pack @ The Forum, Billingham.
Sun 24: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Otterburn Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 24: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Note start time - 7:00pm.
Sun 24: Bold Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 25: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Friday, October 21, 2016

Alan Glen Trio @ The Empty Shop. October 20

Alan Glen (piano), John Pope (double bass) & Paul Wight (drums)
(Review by Russell) 
The Empty Shop is something of a misnomer. Walk up the stairs to the first floor space on one of its regular jazz nights and invariably the place will be heaving. A return visit featuring the north east’s master pianist Alan Glen proved to be no exception. As Glen began his set the ‘house full’ signs were being hung on the doors. Empty shop? Closed shop, more like!
Mr Glen lets the music do the talking: Love for Sale, Stella by Starlight, Love is a Many Splendoured Thing, the GAS book. Accompanying our softly spoken pianist were John Pope and Paul Wight; a firmly established working trio consistently attracting audiences wherever they play. Durham’s Empty Shop would reject any notion that it has adopted a ‘shabby chic’ look, it’s proudly shabby. Floor boards, paint splattered chairs…and jazz.
Durham University’s students frequent Empty Shop and, by and large, listen. In years to come they’ll fondly remember hearing Alan Glen. They’ll apply the yardstick: Not quite as good as Alan Glen, but decent enough, when listening to the latest ‘buzz’ name. It’s a simple matter…the material. Tried and tested, Glen explores tunes he’s played a million times, yet he surprises – perhaps surprising himself – in finding something new, a chord progression, a nuanced rephrasing. Old hands (there were a few) and Durham’s ‘Bright Young Things’ heard affable drummer Paul Wight knock around fours East of the Sun and West of the Moon, bassist John Pope, grabbed a number of solos during the evening (his sound ‘just so’) and Mr Glen came up with a new composition –  Easy Go received its world premier public performance. We’ll be hearing it again, it’s in the Glen pad, and in due course will vie for Gasser status. Tune Up closed a classy first set.

The Newcastle Jazz Co-op ‘curated’ session resumed with more Miles (Solar), Beautiful Love (JP soloing), a thoughtful Glen intro to A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square and a robust take on Bye Bye Blackbird. Two staples – Four and All Blues (JP and PW doing the business) – framed a sensitive reading of Rolling Sid with Wight dedicating the tune to the late Ray Truscott, a musician who worked many times with Alan Glen. The night drew to a close but not before an encore. Glen suggested Autumn Leaves. The audience showed its appreciation. We departed into the autumnal night.      
    
Bebop Spoken Here’s Durham correspondent Tony Eales confirmed that a new term time only Sunday evening jam session will start this coming Sunday (October 23) led by some of Durham University’s music (and non-music) students. It starts at eight o’clock and it’s free admission. All comers are welcome – sitters-in and listeners.


The next Jazz Co-op Jazz Session at Empty Shop on November 3 presents one of the few remaining opportunities to catch Tyneside-based pianist Francesco Falcioni. It’s sure to be another sold out occasion, indeed, a farewell occasion, as Falcioni is heading south to the bright lights of London.                                 

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