The things we do for love (of jazz). Swing Manouche @ J's & B's, Fenham - August 7

(© Pam)

Mick Shoulder (lead guitar); Dave Smith (rhythm guitar); Martin Winning (clarinet); Paul Grainger (bass)

I remember, back in the early 1970s, hearing Frank Ricotti at a pub in Cruddas Park which was, in those days, Newcastle's equivalent of Hell's Kitchen (I've since heard the area has been gentrified).

The music was excellent and, as a bonus, my car still had most of its wheels.

Today, this devotion to duty was again tested to the limit albeit in, theoretically, more promising surrounds. However, Beelzebub - who had provided the central heating in Cruddas Park - didn't inspire the man upstairs to do likewise in the pastures green of St James' & St Basil's church in Fenham.

Just Friends @ Dorman's Jazz Club, Middlesbrough - Aug 4

Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Ian Bosworth (guitar); Dave Archbold (keys); Ron Smith (bass); Mark Hawkins (drums).

A band, formed from well known and respected local musicians, Just Friends played to an appreciative audience that included fellow jazz musicians Dougie Pugh, Ray Dales and John Brett.

Starting the night in fine style with the well known I'm Coming Home Baby showing how tight an ensemble they were  and enhanced by excellent solos from Richie, Ian and Dave - not to mention the great backing from Ron on bass and Mark on drums! This set the style for the night.

Paul Edis & James Brady @ The Globe - August 6

(© Sheila Herrick)

Paul Edis (piano); James Brady (trumpet, flugelhorn)

Jazz Co-op's annual weekend workshop attracted participants keen to learn from two of the busiest performers and tutors on the British jazz scene. Over the course of two days Paul Edis and James Brady would inspire students to develop their improvisational skills. You would be hard pushed to find two better tutors. What's more, on Saturday evening, our two principals treated their students and a wider audience to two sets of top quality jazz.

Album review: John Garner - Seventh Dream

John Garner (violin/comp./mixing); Flo Rosset (drums 1,5); Dave Walsh (drums 7); Alok Verma (tabla/frame drum 2/djembe 5).

Described as both an exploration of the seven major scale modes and a meditation on the mystical world of dreaming, John Garner's fifth solo album is a profoundly personal record of his musical and spiritual journey thus far.

Aycliffe Radio Jazz Time: Sundays 6.30pm - 8.00pm (repeat Tuesdays 8.00pm - 9.30 pm)

Playlist 07/08/22. (Repeated Tuesday 09/08/22)

Request: Gerry Mulligan/Lee Konitz/Art Farmer; Duke Ellington; Gregory Porter.

Requests from Jeremy McMurray and his Pocket Orchestra.

Kenny Barron, Diana Reeves, Buddy Rich, Jimmy Smith, George Benson, Don Rendell-Ian Carr, Sonny Stitt.

Wynton Kelly Trio, Dave Brubeck, Buddy Rich Swings Count Basie.

https://www.ayclifferadio.co.uk/listen/

Album (vinyl) review: Howard McGhee - Dusty Blue

Howard McGhee (trumpet); Bennie Green (trombone); Roland Alexander (tenor sax/flute); Pepper Adams (bari sax); Tommy Flanagan (piano); Ron Carter (bass); Walter Bolden (drums).

The second of the two vinyl pièces de résistance that I referred to in my previous post. It is excellent but far removed from what I expected. The Blue Mitchell album was everything I hoped for and got. I expected this, given the personnel to be an equally mind-blowing blast which it both was and wasn't!

Let me elaborate ...

Album (vinyl) review: Blue Mitchell - Blue Mitchell

Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Jimmy Forrest (tenor sax); Walter Bishop Jr. (piano); Larry Gales (bass); Doug Sides (drums).

There are rare moments in life that one treasures. The evening when a certain person smiles at you from across a crowded room or you go into a pub and they have your favourite ale on draught or, you see the mailman heading for your front door carrying a slim 12" x 12" package.

You open the door ahead of him in case he tries to squeeze it through the letterbox, thank him profusely and then break your fingernails as you feverishly struggle to open it.

Album review: Geoffrey Keezer & Friends – Playdate

Geoffrey Keezer (piano); Shedrick Mitchell (organ); Ron Blake (tenor/sop sax); Richie Goods (acoustic/electric bass); Kendrick Scott (drums) + Aayushi Karnik, Nir Felder (guitars); Munyungo Jackson (percussion); 19 piece orchestra on two tracks.

Well, I’m not sure this is allowed. This is an album of largely high energy jazz that sounds like it was made simply to be enjoyed. The blurb tells us that the name of the album is an homage to the idea of planning a playdate for a group of kids and that sense of fun pops up in several places across the album’s 43 minutes. There is a mix of styles and the music evokes all sorts of cinematic imagery; the music reaches back to golden era Blue Note but has a steady eye on challenges of the future as if to suggest the direction that this jazz thing might be going in.

London Latin Leader Liddard to Launch Album at Hoochie in October

Tenor saxist/keyboard/arranger Aaron Liddard, a prominent figure in the exciting London Latin jazz scene is to launch his new album - Nylon Man - at Hoochie Coochie, Newcastle's major nightspot, on Thursday October 22.  

The album, which includes some of the hottest Latin, jazz, fusion players on the London scene, features a who's who of the jazz and Cuban music scene in the form of: Yelfris Valdes trumpet (Buena Vista Social Club); Sid Gauld trumpet (Incognito); Raudelis Quiala Cisneros congas; Hammadi Valdes drums & percussion (Carlos Acosta); Javier Gincarte percussion; Paul Michael double bass; Andrew McKinney bass guitar (JTQ) and Elliott Henshaw drums.

Sounds like an evening not to be missed and, wait for it, it's free entry! Lance

MORE and MORE.

A Foggy Day on Radio 4

Today I caught an interesting half-hour item on Radio 4 which was all about the George and Ira Gershwin song A Foggy Day and, in particular, as it was performed by Judy Garland at her legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in 1961. A concert that set Garland back on the road to stardom and ultimately provided the inspiration for this thorough analysis of the Gershwins' masterpiece by Rufus Wainwright. 

As well as the mixed blessing of hearing the song performed by Wainwright there were also excerpts of other performances as well as some observations from top British jazz singer Emma Smith. You can catch this on BBC Sounds. Worth a listen. Ann Alex