Chilling with Joe on JRR (Aug 14)

Hot on the heels of a successful album launch gig at the 100 Club, pianist Joe Webb makes it onto today's Jazz Record Requests' play list. Joe is in good company...Louis, Miles, Barbara Thompson and more. Join Alyn Shipton at four o'clock on BBC Radio 3 to discover which track has been requested from Joe's Summer Chill album - Russell.

Aycliffe Radio Jazz Time Sundays 6.30-8.00pm (Repeat Tuesdays 8.00-9.30pm.)

Playlist 14/08/22. (Repeated Tuesday 16/08/22)

Requests: Dave Brubeck Trio, Hailu Mergia & Dahlak Band,
Requests from Darlington New Orleans Jazz Cub:  Bunk Johnson, Tenement Jazz Band, Louis Armstrong All Stars, New Orleans Rhythm Kings, River City Hot Six, Sammy Rimington.

RIP: Barbara Thompson.

Newcastle Jazz Festival: Strictly Smokin' Big Band, Jo Harrop & Jamie McCredie, Lindsay Hannon, Emma Rawicz.

Album review: The Yellowjackets - Parallel Motion

Russell Ferrante (piano/keys); Bob Mintzer (tenor/soprano sax); Will Kennedy (drums/keys); Dane Alderson (elec. bass/MIDI sequencing); Jean Baylor (vocals on tk 8)

I'm never quite sure where The Yellowjackets stand in the jazz pantheon these days. For over 40 years they've been at the forefront of the jazz/fusion scene and I recall being impressed by them at Ronnie's a few years back. Perhaps such longevity breeds the contempt associated with familiarity. 

Global Cooling this Sunday @ the Globe

A one off evening special of our long running Am Jam session, in the ground floor bar of The Globe.*

Come and play or just have a drink and cool off. Very relaxed. Admission is free but cash donations are very welcome.

Am Jam is designed specifically to encourage musicians who may not have much experience of jazz jam sessions. It’s a supportive environment. There will be a house trio to keep the music flowing. Instrumentalists and vocalists welcome to step up. Repertoire is well-known jazz standards.

Sunday Night Am Jam Special @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm.

*The rest of the year it's 3-6pm 2nd Sunday of the month.

Album review: Dameronia's Legacy Al-Stars - Live at Audi Forum Ingolstadt

Jim Rotundi (trumpet - USA); Dick Oatts (alto sax - USA); Jon Boutellier (tenor sax - FR); Rik van den Bergh (baritone sax - NL); Johannes Herrlich (trombone - DE); Andrea Pozza (piano - IT); Aldo Zunino (bass - IT);  Bernd Reiter (drums - AT).

One of my favourite LPs is Tadd Dameron’s  1962 Riverside album The Magic Touch and I am pleased to note that on this excellent CD, recorded live at the Audi Forum, Ingolstadt, Bavaria, there are three tunes from The Magic Touch album - On a Misty Night, If You Could See Me Now and Look, Stop and Listen.

Preview: Newcastle Jazz Festival (Day 3) Saturday August 20

The third day of this year's Newcastle Jazz Festival takes place at Tyne Bank Brewery. The action gets under way at half past one and continues 'til sometime after nine o'clock in the evening. First up at 1:30 is Pete Tanton's Riviera Effect (Lloyd Wright, guitar, John Bradford, drums). Ex-pat American trumpeter Tanton mines a rich post-Chet Baker seam of sun-dappled French (Tyneside!) Riviera sounds.  

At 3:50 it's the turn of Alter Ego. Hard bop, Blakey-inspired, accomplished original compositions, the Tyneside/Tyne Valley-based sextet always puts on a great show. The front line - Keith Robinson, reeds, Niall Armstrong, reeds, Dave Hignett, trumpet/flugelhorn - supported by guitarist Joe Steels, depping bassist Michael Whent and drummer David Johnson will be a big hit, that's for sure.

Another day, another dollar...

 ...or, in this case, a rather special dollar - a Canadian $1 coin celebrating one of Canada's greatest musicians the pianist Oscar Peterson. 

MORE.

Preview: Newcastle Jazz Festival (Day 2) Friday Aug. 19

This time next week the Newcastle Jazz Festival will be into its second day. Newcastle Arts Centre is kindly sponsoring the event in the Black Swan basement performance space. It's a contrasting double bill featuring a new duo and an established brass outfit. Tenor saxophonist Harry Keeble teams up with guitarist extraordinaire Mark Williams. Expect to hear their take on standards and perhaps one or two original compositions.

Ben Gilbert Trio @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall - August 12

Ben Gilbert (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums)

On a sweltering summer's afternoon Ben Gilbert opened his piano trio concert with Jimmy Van Heusen's It Could Happen to You. In the scratch company of bassist Mick Shoulder and drummer John Bradford the one hour set would comprise of wholly familiar material with the exception of one song written by a noted Argentine composer.

Revisiting The Stardust Road

I picked up this book a long time ago from that second-hand bookstall (Robinson's) that survived for many years in Newcastle's Grainger Market. It was perhaps the best used bookshop Newcastle had had up until then and it only closed after the invasion of the charity shops.

The Stardust Road charts Hoagland Carmichael's journey along the way to composing some of the greatest standards ever written. But that, whilst important, is only part of the story.