CD Review: Daryl Sherman - Lost in a Crowded Place

Daryl Sherman (piano/vocal); Jon-Erik Kellso (trumpet); Don Vappie (guitar, banjo, vocal duet on You Go To My Head); Jesse Boyd (bass); Boots Malleson (bass on Rainbow Hill).

(Review by Lance).

Readers may be forgiven for thinking this is Daryl Sherman Week on BSH. Well, maybe it is!

This is a delightful album displaying Daryl's distinctive, often winsome, voice bringing to mind Shirley Horn and Blossom Dearie without actually sounding like either.

The absence of a drummer gives it an intimate feel, almost as if it was taking place in your living room. Kellso’s lyricism recalls Bobby Hackett which adds to the ambiance whilst bass and guitar blend in perfectly with the piano.

And the songs! What a selection:

Tales of the Unexpected: Dun Cow Jam Session - April 25

Whitney Balliett famously called jazz The Sound of Surprise which indeed it often is and not just by the music but also by the unexpected appearance of a jazz legend in a neighbourhood club or bar.

Back in the 1960s, members of the Basie Band paid an unexpected visit to Newcastle’s, now long gone, Downbeat Club after a City Hall concert and jammed with the Emcee Five. Harry Connick Jr. sat in at the old Jazz Café and, on another occasion, Wynton Marsalis called in.

Eric Delaney visited Rosie’s and the New Crown in South Shields and sat in (on snare drum) at the Porthole in North Shields. George Wein was impressed by what he heard at Blaydon Jazz Club (Paul Edis Trio) and Sting made an unexpected visit to Hoochie Coochie just last year; an event that made the Nationals for all the wrong reasons!

A Triple Treat with the Paul Donnelly Trio @ Dormans Club Middlesbrough April 19.

 Paul Donnelly (guitar); Stuart Collingwood (keys/bass pedal); and Paul Smith (drums).

Continuing with the guest band nights at Dormans, a most successful session was held with the newly formed "Paul Donnelly Trio" playing to a full house. 

The three highly regarded musicians impressed the audience from the start with Monk's Straight No Chaser, followed by Work Song and the inimitable Paul Smith playing a fine solo. A mixed repertoire included This Masquerade, St.Thomas, Pat Metheny's James, Take Five, West Coast Blues with nice Wes style octave work from Paul and an interesting version of Leaving On a Jet Plane. On Jimmy Smith's The Cat Stuart played a great organ solo with fine bass pedal work. After several more numbers, the night was finished with Wes Montgomery's Jingles and an encore of Seven Come Eleven. It was satisfying to see such a good turn out which included many local musicians. 

Ron H.

Press Release: DJAZZ - The Durham City Jazz Festival

Various venues

Durham City

June 1st - 3rd

Tickets: £10 available from buytickets.at/djazz

A festival is bringing together an eclectic mix of musicians and ensembles to challenge perceptions and blur the lines of jazz as we know it!

DJAZZ - The Durham City Jazz Festival started in 2017 to celebrates the genre in all of its forms. After attracting more than 2000 people in its first year with a mix of ticketed and free events the festival returns to excite, intrigue and entertain in equal measure.

The festival brings a fresh perspective to the world of jazz, celebrating it’s vast and varied nature. The focus is to bring together a number of different musical styles, groups, networks and audiences in the small but perfectly formed city of Durham. At only £10 for a full weekend ticket, festival-goers gain access to over 30 events ranging from intimate sets in hidden locations to big names in big venues! Think cafes, bookshops and barber shops to bars, venues and stunning historic buildings. This not only has the effect of pairing up acts with a unique environment but is part of the festival’s ambition to reach new audiences and get music lovers to try something new!

Bob Dorough (Dec. 12, 1923 - April 23, 2018)

I came to Bob Dorough some way behind the pack. In fact, it was only when I received a review copy of Eulalia back in 2014 that I realised he was more than just (just!) the composer of Devil May Care and other songs. Listening again to Eulalia I'm impressed by the quality of his quirky lyrics and tunes. Not the world's greatest singer but I don't think anyone else could sing them like he did. Dave Frishberg? Maybe, begging the chicken and the egg question...

As Bob Dorough was 94 when he passed away yesterday (April 23) I think the question is answered. Digging into Frishberg's autobiography*, he sums Bob Dorough up thus: 

CD Review: Karen Lane - Passarim

Karen Lane (vocals); Andrea Trillo (drums, vocals tracks 7,10); Rob Luft (guitar); Steve Watts (bass); Graham Harvey (piano, Rhodes); Gareth Lockrane (flutes); also Aneselmo Netto (perc tracks 2,6,7); Ricardo Dos Santos (bass tracks 5,12); Saskia Horton (violin track 5); Simon McCorry (cello track 5)

(Review by Ann Alex)

By happy coincidence, I was in a Latin Jazz mood when reviewing this CD, brought on by watching the excellent documentary film about The Buena Vista Social Club (Friday evening television), with its lively street scenes of Cuba, biographies of the musicians, and of course the music itself. This CD features the music of Brazil, different country you say, but still with the Latin rhythms and songs of love shot through with images of sea, sand, trees and flowers.  

CD Review: Andrew Gould - First Things First

Andrew Gould (alto/soprano/FX pedals); Steven Feifke (piano); Marco Panascia (bass); Jake Goldras (drums) + Scott Wendholt (trumpet on 2 tracks); Ioana Vintu (vocals on 1 track).

(Review by Lance).

Such is the mountain of CDs awaiting review that it is no longer feasible for me to listen to even one track off each. Instead, I play a few bars of the opening track and if it doesn't grab me right away it is shuffled down to the bottom of the pile where it will spend the rest of its days weeping and yearning for what might have been. I realise that by doing it this way I probably miss a few gems but, by the same token, nobody is going to put their least impressive track first so I probably, subjectively, don't miss much.