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Bebop Spoken There

“With a lot of young musicians, they get to a certain point and you can’t tell them anything.” - Marcus Roberts (Jazz Times May 2009).
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"I hear great new musicians all over the world. There has been a globalization of jazz. You can't look just to the U.S. for jazz anymore" - Randy Brecker ( Downbeat January 2010)
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TODAY THURSDAY MAY 23.

LUCIEN BAN & MAT MANERI - Recital Room, Newcastle Uni, Armstrong Building, Queen Victoria Rd., Newcastle NE1 7RU. 0191 2228463. 8pm. £10/£8/£5.
A JNE On The Outside presentation.
ALX and JULIJA - Bar Loco, 22 Leazes Park Rd., Newcastle NE1 4GG. 0191 2325871. 8:30pm.
A fusion of jazz, swing, Latin and funk.
BUDTONES - Hexham Jazz Club, Exchange Café, Queen's Hall, Hexham. 8pm. £3.
Bebop, Blues and Ballads -what more do you want? Worth the trip.
VIEUX CARRE JAZZMEN - The Mill Stone, Haddricks Mill Rd., South Gosforth, NE3 1QL. 1:00pm. 0191 2853429. FREE.
New Orleans in nice pub with 4 real ales, good food and a banjo!
JAMES HARRISON/DANNY ALLAN -Hoochie Coochie, 54 Pilgrim St., Newcastle NE1 6SF. 8:00pm.No wheelchair access.
Great young pianist who ticks all the boxes with an exciting young band and a Monster sax player!
THE TEES HOT CLUB - Dormans, Oxford Rd., Linthorpe, Middlesborough, TS5 5DT. 01642 823813
Gypsy jazz with guests.
MAINE STREET JAZZMEN - Marquis of Granby, Streetgate, Sunniside, NE16 5ES (on A692) 0191 4880954. Free. 8:45pm.
Long established Dixieland band.
BUSKER'S NIGHT w. RUTH LAMBERT (not jazz) - Bell and Bucket, North Shields. 9pm. Free.
Fun night with a cast of trillions.
JED GRIMES' ACOUSTIC ROOM - Low Lights Tavern, Brewhouse Bank, North Shields, NE30 1LL. 9PM. £4.50. 0191 2576038.
Folksy.
JACK HAMILTON (solo keyboard plus vocalist) - La Bodega Tapas bar, 84 Newgate St., Morpeth, NE61 1BU. 01670 516055.
Sophisticated sounds and vocals.

Friday, September 16, 2011

CD Review: Mark McKnight Organ Quartet - Do or Die

Mark McKnight (guitar), Seamus Blake (saxophone), Ross Stanley (organ) & James Maddren (drums) Mark McKnight's second CD Do or Die features a UK-based organ band. The tunes are McKnight's - the exception being Rodgers and Hart's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - and his hand-picked band has honed the material to perfection. 
The ubiquitous Ross Stanley plays Hammond with restraint never seeking to dominate. Drummer James Maddren - a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music - bristles with technique yet he too plays with commendable reserve. Band leader McKnight is a supremely gifted guitarist and New Yorker Seamus Blake's tenor complements and completes the group sound on this most satisfying new release from Whirlwind Recordings. 
The opening track, the eponymous Do or Die, sets the standard and features some post-Coltrane tenor intensity. Pieces is a relaxed piece exemplifying the CD as a whole. Nightcap goes with a lyrical, '60's Modern jazz feel; McKnight languorously fluent, Blake likewise, Stanley stabbing and swirling, Maddren wonderfully loose throughout. Bewitched is an inspired inclusion on this recording. A classic number, it is approached with due reverence and the result is stunning. It will be a long time before this take is bettered and hearing it live on the band's forthcoming UK tour will be an eagerly anticipated occasion. 
McKnight can do contemporary and Tease demonstrates the point. A drum 'n' bass vibe underpins McKnight's scaling of the heights and Blake joins in the fun with some blistering tenor work. On Contemplate Hammond maestro Stanley conjures an ethereal church organ sound upon which McKnight constructs a considered solo followed by superb tenor from Blake. The CD's closing number (We'll) Just Disappear is a fitting finale with Blake once again in the spotlight with more taut, intense playing of the highest order. 
The CD is officially released on 26th September. The band is about to embark on an extensive tour of the UK - the first date (the first of 14 gigs in 13 days!) is in Bristol this Sunday (18th). Hopefully the CD will be available at venues during the band's travels throughout the land. 
Check out Mark McKnight's website - www.markmcknight.co.uk - for details of where you can catch the band live. Do 0r Die (Whirlwind Recordings WR461). 
Russell.
at

1 comment :

  1. Hi Russell,

    If you would like a copy of Seamus Blake's most recent CD, "live at Smalls" to review please send me a mailing address.

    Dan Blake (dblake41@gmail.com)

    ReplyDelete

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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.)
Contact: lanceliddle@gmail.com I look forward to hearing from you.

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