Preview: Pepperland @ Newcastle Theatre Royal - April 26 & 27

(Preview by Russell)

American choreographer Mark Morris brings his acclaimed Dance Group to Newcastle this weekend. For two nights only - Friday and Saturday - the NYC-based company will perform Pepperland at the Theatre Royal and, what's more, there is a jazz connection of sorts which should be of interest to BSH readers.

Pepperland was created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the classic Beatles' album Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band receiving its premiere performance in - where else? - Liverpool in May 2017. Since then Morris' work has garnered five star reviews and this Tyneside two-nighter is the final opportunity for a British dance audience to catch it before the company stops-off in Dublin on its way home to Brooklyn to prepare for a coast-to-coast American tour.

Dean Stockdale & Mick Shoulder @ Jazz Cafe Mezzanine - April 24

Dean Stockdale (piano), Mick Shoulder (double bass)

(Review by Russell)

Not so many in this week - post-Easter blues? Who knows? Those who did get along enjoyed two sets of standards and a couple of pianist Dean Stockdale's compositions performed by an experienced duo exuding class. 

My Romance, They Can't Take That Away From Me and The Nearness of You, three classic numbers, the County Durham duo of Stockdale and double bassist Mick Shoulder au fait with the material, the Mezzanine audience listened with a cuppa in hand. 

Jarra Jazz

I wanted to let everyone know about a new series of jazz programmes on a local community radio station.  Hive Radio is operated by Community Arts Project North East, based in Jarrow, and can be accessed via www.capne.org/hive-radio.  I'll be presenting an hour-long programme (called "Jazz on the Tyne") every fortnight, with the first transmission this coming Saturday at 12 noon, repeated the following Wednesday at 9 pm (see attached flyer).  Subsequently, the programmes will be available from Mixcloud as podcasts.

I would really appreciate it if you were able to mention this show on "Bebop Spoken Here".  If there were any events or acts that you would particularly wish to receive a mention on the show, please feel free to contact me! As I'll be saying on the radio, it's possible to contact the show via www.capne.org/contact.

Colin Muirhead

Archipelago plus Paul Taylor @ the Lit and Phil - April 18

Archipelago: Faye MacCalman (clarinet/tenor sax/vocals); John Pope (electric bass/vocals); Christian Alderson (drums) + Paul Taylor (piano).

(Review by Steve H/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)

Archipelago seem to be going from strength to strength gaining national recognition along the way. A packed Lit and Phil on Thursday night confirmed the local heroes’ popularity. They are now a really solid tight outfit although I fondly remember their early performances which were less controlled and quite raw yet had an infectious anarchic feel to them.  

The music varies from free-improv jazz and funky grooves to driving rock. It is the high tempo numbers that really gets the feet tapping and I would love to see them in a more club-like environment where the audience could get up and move about a bit.

Bebop Parlé Ici - Bienvenue à Raphaël Perez

Apart from our wordsmiths, BSH is very honoured to have some great photographers on board. Ken Drew, Malcolm Sinclair are two ace northeast snappers and, in London, the occasional pics from Mochles Simawi are always welcome.

Now we look forward to receiving pictures from Raphaël Perez, who is very active as a photographer on the Parisian jazz scene.

Raphaël (pictured), who reckons to visit 3 to 10 gigs a month, has an outstanding collection of stunning photos and videos on Flikr and Instagram including concerts by, among many others, John Scofield, George Benson, Madeleine Peyroux, Lucky Peterson, and Nicole Mitchell.

View them here.

And here.

Lance

Anth Purdy's Swing & Jazz Guitar @ Dormans Jazz Festival, Middlesbrough - April 18

(Review by Ron H)

The festival at Dormans took a different turn to the norm in that we had Anth Purdy with his Solo Swing Jazz Guitar Show, which was well received by the audience who clearly enjoyed his style of playing.

After talking about the multi-track recording technique he uses, Anth played Surfing in Tacoma followed by a tribute to Les Paul with a nice arrangement of Mockingbird Swing.

Anth showed considerable knowledge of the history of swing guitar and talked about his influences which included Django Reinhardt, Charlie Christian, Merle Travis, and Hank Garland among many others.

Ubuntu Music Signs Tenor Sax Titan Paul Booth

This is great news indeed! Ignoring the fact that most jazz folk in the northeast consider Paul to be the number one tenor saxophonist in the UK, if not further afield, the fact that a jazz committed label such as Ubuntu has the same vision offers comfort to us who wonder why he isn't up there as a contender. Truth is, touring the world with Stevie Winwood and company pays the mortgage but, perhaps takes him out of the jazz limelight.

Now, at last, we're going to hear Paul in the setting where his heart lies - a small group such as he worked with when he first burst upon the Newcastle scene as a precocious teenager blowing a tenor sax that I sold him - little thinking that, in years to come, my status could be compared to the guy who sold Trane his first sax!* 

CD Review: Steve Lipman - Hats Off

(Review by Ann Alex)

I was fascinated to read that this singer works as a dentist. What is it about jazz that attracts the medical profession? Quite a few local musicians are doctors – is it the fact that jazz is maybe a more numerate and scientific type of music that encourages clinicians to play?  In fact, our singer is quoted as saying ‘The creativity demanded by a fluid jazz arrangement is no less than what is required for the art of dentistry.’ Interesting!  I must persuade my dentist to take up the saxophone. I digress, but maybe this is a talking point for BSH. Anyway, our singer performs throughout Connecticut and Massachusetts and this is his third album since 2011. The album is a collection of Gasbook standards, mixed with a couple of more modern songs and two songs of American patriotism.

CD Review: Lauren White - Life in the Modern World

Lauren White (vocals); Quinn Johnson (piano); Kevin Axt (bass); Marvin "Smitty" Smith/Chris Wabich/Kevin Winard (drums/perc); Grant Geissman (guitar); Alex Budman (horns); Tatum Greenblatt/Michael Stever (trumpet/flugel); Francisco Torres (trombone); David Mann (flute) + Mark Winkler (vocal 2 tks/ producer.)
(Review by Lance.)

"You just have to whistle. You know how to whistle don't you? You just put your lips together and blow". Lauren Bacall famously delivered that line to Bogie in the noir film To Have and Have Not. Bacall also 'sang' How Little We Know in the film although Andy Williams was rumoured to have ghosted Lauren's voice! This Lauren doesn't need no ghosts to sing the Hoagy/Mercer song and if she did it certainly wouldn't be Andy Williams!