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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

Sun 01: Musicians Unlimited @ West Hartlepool RFC. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. WHRFC’s Classic Car Show.
Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 01: Harry Keeble Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Keeble, Mark Williams, Andy Champion, Abbie Finn.
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Ropner Park, Stockton. 2:00-4:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 01: Hattie Whitehead @ Cotherstone Village Hall, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. £12.00.; £6.00. child.
Sun 01: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle (8:00pm).

Mon 02: Swing Manouche @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 02: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 02: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Phillips, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Rhythm & blues etc. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 05: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 06: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 06: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 06: Joseph Carville Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 06: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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: 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.

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

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

CD Review: Troy Roberts - Tales & Tones

Troy Roberts (tenor/soprano); Silvano Monasterious (piano); Robert Hurst (bass); Jeff 'Tain' Watts (drums).
(Review by Lance).
New York-based, Australian saxman, Roberts is no stranger to these pages. His 2015 album, Secret Rhymes, was rated as one of my top albums of that year and, an acknowledgment from Jamie Toms, who knows a thing or two about good sax playing, rubber stamped it!
This disc is equally as good as the previous album with Roberts showing that he can cut it anywhere. Tenor or soprano, presto or lento, our boy is on the money. He composed most of the tunes, the exceptions being an original take [honestly!] on Bernie's Tune, John Sangster's Rivera Mountain and, the immortal, A Train. However, he did do the arrangements...
On piano, the improbably named,  Silvano Monasterious did the business with fine solos and comping. Venezuelan Silvano is a longtime sidekick of Roberts and the two gel. Indeed all four gel with drummer Watts reminding us that he's a name to conjure up with when the next Down Beat polls come up - they all are!
(By the way, Don't forget BSH when any of our UK polls come around - I can dream, can't I?)
Troy Roberts - a name to remember.
Lance.

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