To the best of our knowledge, details of the above events are correct but may be subject to alteration.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Gateshead International Jazz Festival – so close, you can almost touch it!

Two weeks and
counting. Sage Gateshead’s annual jazz party
gets underway on Friday 10 April and continues all weekend (Saturday 11 and
Sunday 12). Day One (Friday 10) was previewed earlier. Here’s what’s in store
on Day Two…

Day Two – Saturday April 11

(Preview by Russell)

After the late
Friday night/early Saturday morning festival jam session at the Globe on
Railway Street in Newcastle why not sleep-in? But not too late, as the jazz
resumes at 1:30pm on the concourse. It’s free, it’s non-stop until seven
o’clock, the bars and café will be open throughout and the views across the Tyne are spectacular. It may be free admission but don’t
assume the standard will be in some way inferior. Far from it. The Gateshead
International Jazz Festival is shot-through with quality (in the concert halls,
out on the concourse and in the basement Music Education Centre’s workshops).

Sage Gateshead
is home to the north east’s Royal Northern Sinfonia. The ‘band’ has an annual
appointment at the festival to work in creative partnership with a bona fide
jazz musician. The 2015 edition features the Royal Northern Sinfonia working with one of the most accomplished
pianists of his generation, Gwilym
Simcock. Band and pianist share at least two things in common; Simcock has
a classical background (turning to the jazz world in his late teens/early
twenties) and the acclaimed saxophonist/composer Tim Garland has worked with
the ensemble and with Simcock in small group settings. This Saturday afternoon
collaboration in Hall Two (2:00pm) will hear Simcock play solo, in trio format with
regular associate bassist Yuri Goloubev and Martin France (drums), and together
with the Royal Northern Sinfonia. The intimacy of Hall Two (400 seats) will
afford the listener a rare opportunity to hear at close quarters a world class
chamber orchestra (Clark Rundell conducting) performing Simcock’s commissioned
suite Move!

Gateshead
International Jazz Festival is a partnership between Sage Gateshead and the
London-based promoter Serious. Making jazz accessible to all is a shared goal
and this year’s festival brings to the Northern Rock Foundation Hall Tin Men and the Telephone Family Show.
The Dutch Tin Men trio encourages interactive audience participation. In a
performance suitable for those six years of age and over (adults welcome!), you
are encouraged to bring along your smartphone or tablet to participate in the
action. In an hour-long show you can help shape the performance. Please
download the app at tinyurl.com/tinmendo. Switch on your device of choice for
the two o’clock start! In the Music Education Centre at 2:00pm why not join a
more conventional participatory event (although you never know!) with a Loose
Tuber? Iain Ballamy is the guest tutor
working with Newcastle Jazz Co-op’s regular monthly Play Jazz! workshop. To
enrol, contact Sage Gateshead’s ticket office – 0191 443 4661.

Late afternoon,
if you’re exiting a ticketed event, be sure to grab a vantage point out on the
concourse to hear the fantastic King Bee
featuring classy vibes man Chris Jelly.It comes highly recommended. 6:30pm,
don’t miss this one! If you’re around at about five o’clock you can catch the
incomparable Ruth Lambert. The Great
American Songbook and original compositions will enthrall. Expect perfection.
Speaking of perfection…the Barbour Room at Sage Gateshead hosts an in
conversation event at half past five; Living
Legacy: Talk with Kevin LeGendre and members of the Cookers. Free but
ticketed, this is a rare opportunity to see, hear and talk to jazz aristocracy.
The legacy of bop –Art Blakey’s pioneering work continues in the hands of some
of the music’s living legends – is in the capable hands of the Cookers. To
think this is but a taster for Sunday’s concert. Hear the greats talk, hear
them in hard bop mode in Hall Two on Sunday at two o’clock.

Saturday
evening, the big one is in Hall One. Wait! The same applies to Hall Two and the
Jazz Lounge (Northern Rock Foundation Hall). Choices, choices. Hall One – the smokin’
Hammond Acid Jazz of the James Taylor
Quartet sharing the bill with the very soulful RubyTurner. Years of
touring, with no signs of slowing down, Taylor and Turner will have you
groovin’ from the start (the start being 7:30pm). Meanwhile, fifteen minutes
on, the Jazz Lounge will take on a slightly decadent jazz air. It’s another
double bill featuring the wonderful Zoe
Gilby and Alice Zawadski.
Vocalist Gilby premiered her Pannonica show
at a recent Splinter gig at the Bridge Hotel in Newcastle. The resounding success of that
evening convinced Gilby that she should do it again. All the ingredients are
present; Monk, Carmen McRae, the Jazz Baroness bop patron, and Gilby’s
outstanding band – on piano Paul Edis,
Andy Champion (bass) and drummer Adrian Tilbrook. The second half is sure to match Ms Gilby’s
five star performance. Alice Zawadski (vocalist,
violinist and composer) visits Gateshead with
rave reviews of her debut album – China
Lane – ringing in her ears. She brings with her an A-list band (Alex Roth guitar, Peter Lee piano, Tom
McCredie bass and Jon Scott drums).
That’s Hall One and the Jazz Lounge. But what about Hall Two? Well, one of the
great names in jazz today takes to the stage at 8:00pm. Joshua Redman no less, plays Sage Gateshead. Son of Dewey Redman,
collaborator with DeJohnette, Metheny and many others, and for this appearance
the saxophonist brings an outstanding bass and drums duo – Reuben Rogers and Greg
Hutchison. This could be the gig of the weekend.

Emerging from
the hall of your choosing, there’s more, much more, to hear. The trio of Nic Svarc (guitar), Steve Hanley (drums) and Martin Longhawn (organ) will likely as
not, win a host of new admirers. They played on Tyneside a year or so ago.
They’re good and you’ll be impressed. Two sets at 10:15 and 11:15pm. In Hall
Two (10:30pm) there is the cult Australian trio The Necks. They’re ‘cult’, so you know about them or you don’t.
Extended improvisations, associations with a diverse a range of artists from
Brian Eno to Evan Parker, worth checking out. At 10:45 in the Jazz Lounge there
is the return of the brilliant Manchester
big band Beats and Pieces. Young,
dynamic, supremely talented – any big band fan cannot fail to be other than
knocked out by this band. Powerful isn’t the word; electronic elements (don’t
be put off), superb soloists, all pulled together by MD Ben Cottrell. A five star recommendation. It’s been a long day,
but there’s more! Dash across the HighLevelBridge
or SwingBridge and head for the Jazz Café. The
late night Gateshead International Jazz Festival jam session should be in full
cry upstairs at the Pink Lane
venue. Eleven o’clock start, finishing at, well, when the irrepressible Peter Gilligan runs out of steam.
Gilligan’s quartet will set the standard, sitters-in most welcome. It’s stupid
o’clock, time to get your head down. Wakey! Wakey! Day three has dawned! The
ticket office at Sage Gateshead can be contacted on 0191 443 4661. Book now!

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Lance

About this blog - contact details.

Bebop Spoken Here -- Here, being the north-east of England -- centred in the blues heartland of Newcastle and reaching down to the Tees Delta and looking upwards to the Land of the Kilt.Not a very original title, I know; not even an accurate one as my taste, whilst centred around the music of Bird and Diz, extends in many directions and I listen to everything from King Oliver to Chick Corea and beyond. Not forgetting the Great American Songbook the contents of which has provided the inspiration for much great jazz and quality popular singing for round about a century.The idea of this blog is for you to share your thoughts and pass on your comments on discs, gigs, jazz - music in general. If you've been to a gig/concert or heard a CD that knocked you sideways please share your views with us. Tell us about your favourites, your memories, your dislikes.Lance (Who wishes it to be known that he is not responsible for postings other than his own and that he's not always responsible for them.)