It's not often that I can say that Stockton-on-Tees has the cream of the jazz crop, but it's certainly the case next week, with two outstanding gigs at the Georgian Theatre. On Thursday John Warren's eight-piece Splinter Group contributes to the regular Milestones workshop and follows it up with a concert, while on Saturday there's the exciting prospect of the Voice of the North Jazz Orchestra unveiling a major new work, commissioned from internationally accalimed composer Issie Barratt.
The rest of the week suffers in comparison, although the North East Jazz Collective provide another interesting night, and trad fans have the ever-popular Sammy Rimington making a return visit to Gateshead Fell on Thursday.
VOICE OF THE NORTH ORCHESTRA with ISSIE BARRATT
 VOTN with Andy Sheppard
Sunday 23rd November | 12.00 Noon – 3.00pm
Georgian Theatre | Stockton
Tickets £6.00 | £5.00 in advance from 01642 674115
The world premiere of a new work, ‘Noneffency’, commissioned by JazzAction from composer, arranger, baritone sax player and educator Issie Barratt.
You don’t need me to tell you that the Voice of the North Orchestra is one of the leading (and certainly one of the most adventurous) big bands in the UK today, able to attract collaborations from such star performers as John Surman, Tim Garland and Andy Sheppard. Issie Barratt is perhaps less well known to most jazz fans, but she is undoubtedly amongst the most innovative composers around, with an international reputation for developing works that forge creative relationships between jazz and more formal orchestral traditions.
That certainly doesn’t mean that this new commission will be sterile ‘third stream’ music (some of the stuff Issie has written for groups like the Vortex Foundation Big Band packs an indisputably jazz punch) – on the contrary, this could turn out to be one of the most exciting projects yet in the Voice of the North’s twelve year history.
 Issie Barratt
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PORTICO QUARTET
Jack Wyllie (saxophones); Milo Fitzpatrick (double bass); Nick Mulvey (hang, marimba); Duncan Bellamy (drums)
Sunday 23rd November | 8.00pm
The Sage | Gateshead
Tickets £10.00 & £7.00 from 0191 443 4661
This is either the future of jazz, or proof that you can fool some of the people at least some of the time. When Portico last played the Sage, I went along with an open mind, but by around the third number I was wishing that the bloke playing the giant wok would turn it over and do something useful with it, like cooking a decent paella for the audience. The quartet is extremely trendy, and can pull in a big audience (which is presumably why the Sage have booked them again), but for me it’s a one-trick gimmick which very rapidly exhausts its limited creative potential.
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NEXT WEEK’S GIGS
It’s been quite a while since there’s been a week quite so stuffed with great music as this.
By the narrowest of margins, the gig of the week is the appearance of Queen Mab on Tuesday, if only because this superb Dutch-Canadian trio are making their UK debut, and it’s likely to be a very long time before they’re back. But the two great guitarists who bracket their gig - Jim Mullen on Monday, John Etheridge on Thursday - are also in the top flight, so it’s time to cross a few people off your Christmas list and spend the money on gigs instead.
And if you've got the stamina, Jambone's gig at the Sage on Saturday shoud be worth catching - not just young jazzers (maybe stars of the future?), but a rich diet of original compositions
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North East Jazz Collective presents
JIM MULLEN TRIO
Jim Mullen (guitar); Andy Champion (bass); Adrian Tilbrook (drums)
+ JAM SESSION
Monday 24th November | 8.00pm
Side Café | The Side | Newcastle
Admission £7.00 | £5.00 concessions
The Jazz Collective closes its Autumn season with its first ever real star name (yes, I know all the NECJ regulars ought to be stars, but these things take time). A great opportunity to hear Jim Mullen in an intimate venue and maybe – for the brave musicians amongst you – to join him in a jam session. Organiser Paul Edis tells me that he’s already taken some advance bookings, so to ensure a seat (or even just space to stand) it might be an idea to email him at pauledis@googlemail.com.
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Schmazz presents
QUEEN MAB TRIO
Lori Freedman (reeds); Ig Henneman (viola); Marilyn Lerner (grand piano)
Tuesday 25th November | 8.00pm
The Cluny | 36 Lime Street | Newcastle
Tickets £7.00 | £5.00 concessions | £3.00 students from 0191 230 4474
A remarkable coup for Schmazz, whose reputation as adventurous promoters has now reached the international jazz community. Dutch viola player Ig Henneman has been working on and off with Canadians Freedman and Lerner for around a decade, touring extensively on both sides of the Atlantic, but they have chosen Schmazz to host their first ever UK appearance (one of just two, the other being in Liverpool). Three of the most engaging, maverick improvisers anywhere, the women produce music which bristles with electrifying, revolutionary delight, combining freedom with discipline in a way which is full of detail yet utterly accessible. Welcome to Tyneside.
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NELSON RIDDLE ORCHESTRA
Wednesday 26th November | 7.30pm
Empire Theatre | Sunderland
Tickets £ £11.50 - £23.50 from 0870 602 1130
In the 1950s and ‘60s the Nelson Riddle Orchestra provided superbly swinging jazz-inflected backings for the finest vocalists of the period, including Nat ‘King’ Cole, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald.
Now the Orchestra tours under the leadership of Riddle’s son Christopher, using the original charts and arrangements, and with the vocals handled by Bryan Anthony. And there’s the rub. AllAbout Jazz magazine reported that Anthony “emphasizes sentimentality, romance, and elegance as he delivers standards in a pleasant soothing manner”, a description that makes my heart sink. A gig that’s likely to be high on nostalgia, but that tingle down the spine moment? I doubt it.
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Jazz North East presents
JOHN ETHERIDGE’S TRIO NORTH
John Etheridge (guitar); Ben Crosland (bass); Dave Tyas (drums)
Thursday 27th November | 8.00pm
Corner House Hotel | Newcastle
Tickets £8.00 | £6.00 concessions | £3.00 students from 0191 265 9602
John Etheridge must be just about the most versatile guitarist on the jazz scene, working the whole range from classic ‘Hot Club’ jazz (he spent four years with legendary violinist Stéphane Grappelli) through to the freaked-out rock of Zappatistas. But his roots are in the straightahead world of the guitar trio, and that’s the side of his playing that comes to the fore with his Trio North, which he describes as “falling nicely between the hit & miss of a pick-up band and the structures of a fully rehearsed outfit”. A guitar titan in relaxed mode.
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Opus 4 Jazz Club presents
AFTER EIGHT JAZZ
Thursday 27th November | 8.15pm
Travellers Rest | Cockerton | Darlington
Tickets £5.00 from 01325 469756
I’m afraid I don’t have any information about this group, but the name suggests smooth, easy listening jazz that goes down well with a drink after dinner. Probably not too far off the mark.
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VIEUX CARRE JAZZMEN
An Evening in New Orleans
Friday 28th November | 7.30pm
Boardwalk Café | Watts Slope | Whitley Bay
Tickets £10.00 including buffet, from 0191 251 1988
Very confusing. Not only does New Orleans seem to have relocated to Whitley Bay, but the poster for this gig shows a Missisippi steamboat passing under what appears to be Newcastle’s Queen Elizabeth II Metro Bridge. Still, use your imagination . . . as the Boardwalk Café is right alongside the beach, you may be able to hear the breaking of the waves, and fantasise about Lake Pontchartrain lapping against the levees.
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ALISON HILDRETH’S UTOPIA
Jazz Supper
Friday 28th November | 7.30pm
Jesmond Dene House | Jesmond Dene Road | Newcastle
Bookings £37.50 from 0191 212 3000
The Jesmond Dene House website gives much more space to the food than the music (a pity, because pianist and vocalist Alison Hildreth is certainly worth a listen). Unless, of course, this is the band’s set list of rarely performed jazz standards . . .
Northumbrian Game Terrine, Pear Chutney and Toasted Brioche
French Onion Soup
Crispy Root Vegetable Salad with Serrano Ham
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Seared Scottish Salmon with Potato Gratin, Green Beans and Wine Sauce
Roasted Breast of Corn Fed Chicken, Autumn Vegetables and Chicken Gravy
Gnocchi a la Romaine, Tomato Sauce, Wild Rocket and Parmesan
***
Chocolate and Pink Grapefruit Dome with Chocolate Sauce, Grapefruit Segments
Cinnamon Sponge, Caremelised Apples, Blackberry Sorbet and Ginger Cream
Farmhouse Cheeses with Celery, Walnuts and Dried Apricots
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Jazz at the Fell presents
MAINE STREET JAZZMEN
Friday 28th November | 8.30pm
Gateshead Fell Cricket Club
Information from 0191 262 3735
Popular local trad band led by Herbie Hudson (whom I heard recently at the Lockerbie Jazz Festival, where he more than matched US guest star and fellow trombonist John Allred - not keen on his singing, though).
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JOHN WARREN’S SPLINTER GROUP
Graeme Wilson (saxophones); Noel Dennis, Graham Hardy (trumpets); Chris Hibbard (trombone); Paul Edis (keyboards); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (bass); Adrian Tilbrook (drums); John Warren (arranger)
Friday 28th November | 8.00pm
Queen’s Hall | Hexham
Tickets £7.50 | £4.00 students from 01434 652477
First Hexham outing for this octet, which has rapidly established itself as one of the most exciting modern jazz groups in the region. And so it should be, with John Warren’s tremendous compositions and arrangements, and a line-up that includes the cream of the North East scene.
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LOUNGE LIZARDS
Michael Hanley & Andrea DeVere (saxes); Kevin Moore (guitar); Hazel Hanley (bass); Rob Nelson (drums); Maggie Renton (vocals)
+ JAM SESSION
Friday 28th November | 8.00pm
Village Hall | Allendale | Northumberland
Admission £3.00
With Splinter Group playing just up the road in Hexham, this gig may struggle to pull in much of an audience, but it’s the first of what – come the new year – is intended to be a regular monthly event in Allendale, generally with a local band. The format will be that the ‘name’ band plays for around half an hour, after which there’s a jam session (anybody welcome, with lead sheets provided), and then a final longer set from the band.
For some reason there’s a widespread assumption that smaller rural communities will only tolerate trad jazz: while Lounge Lizards won’t actually frighten the horses (or the cows, or the sheep), they have enough of a contemporary edge to make this a brave and welcome initiative.
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TOMMY EMMANUEL
Saturday 29th November | 7.30pm
Tyne Theatre | Westgate Road | Newcastle
Tickets £17.50 from 0844 493 9999
Australian Tommy Emmanuel's website has the letters “C.G.P.” after his name. I thought it might be an award under an Ozzie honours system, but it turns out to stand for “Certified Guitar Player”, which sounds more like a psychiatric diagnosis.
The music is energetic and virtuosic, but is only at the extreme fringes of jazz – more Bert Weedon than Wes Montgomery.
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MAINE STREET JAZZMEN
Saturday 29th November | 8.30pm
The Coachman | Burnthouse Lane | Whickham
Information from 0191 488 7620
Second appearance this week for the Maine Street sextet. Originally scheduled for the 1st November, this gig was shifted when the pub took a more lucrative booking for a wedding reception.
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JAMBONE
Saturday 29th November | 7.30pm
The Sage | Gateshead
Tickets £3.50 to £7.00 from 0191 443 4661
The Sage’s own youth jazz big band in what is probably their most ambitious concert yet, including compositions specially written for them by Tim Garland, and by some of Tim’s own composition students from Newcastle University. A genuinely refreshing change from some youth bands, who tend to work the well established big band repertoire.
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ALL THAT JAZZ
Sunday 30th November | 8.00pm
The Playhouse | Alnwick
Tickets £6.00 | £5.00 concessions from 01665 510785
Second of the recently established ‘Studio Jazz’ sessions, featuring a seven-piece band led by Ray Thompson, and playing a reperptoire that leans heavily towards swing era classics and popular standards.
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'Jazz Alert' is financially assisted by JazzAction <www.jazzaction.co.uk>, but the views expressed are those of the compiler, Paul Bream.
The 'Jazz Alert' is derived from my database of forthcoming gigs, which is itself put together from information received from musicians and promoters. It really doesn't matter how far ahead people let me know about their planned events (I already have details of gigs as far away as December) - in fact it's helpful to have the information well in advance so that I have time to do a bit of background research. So if you're a musician who's just been booked for a gig in August, or a promoter who's got a programme of future gigs set up, send me an email with the details. Do it now, before you forget!
Send your gig details to Paul NOW
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