Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

The Things They Say!

This is a good opportunity to say thanks to BSH for their support of the jazz scene in the North East (and beyond) - it's no exaggeration to say that if it wasn't for them many, many fine musicians, bands and projects across a huge cross section of jazz wouldn't be getting reviewed at all, because we're in the "desolate"(!) North. (M & SSBB on F/book 23/12/24)

Postage

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Reviewers wanted

Whilst BSH attempts to cover as many gigs, festivals and albums as possible, to make the site even more comprehensive we need more 'boots on the ground' to cover the albums seeking review - a large percentage of which never get heard - report on gigs or just to air your views on anything jazz related. Interested? then please get in touch. Contact details are on the blog. Look forward to hearing from you. Lance

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Yaron Herman Trio & Tom Cawley's 'Curios'. The Sage

This was one of those last minute decisions that saw me transported, as if by magic carpet, to the Sage. I'd heard 'Curios' earlier in the year at Scarborough so I knew what to expect. Aggression tempered with tenderness and it was the tender moments that won through for me even if I found it a little strange, or should I say 'curious', that pianist Tom Cawley chose to dedicate one of those delicate moments to an unemployed Formula One driver - Jenson Button! Another moment of rare beauty was a piece called "Truce". This simply cried out for it to be played alongside an appropriate poem - come in Keith or Angela.
Yaron Herman was something else again! He played total piano in the two-fisted way that Peterson and Tatum did; utilising the whole keyboard and even doing a Monk (Thelonius) like dance when the tension became almost unbearable. Of Israeli origin, he beautifully incorporated "In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning" into one of his national folk songs. It could have been arranged by Delius or Debussy such was the harmonic texture.
Bass and drums blended in well and, unlike their 'Curios' counterparts they swung when it was necessary that they 'swung'. In fairness to 'Curios', swinging isn't high up on their list of priorities.
A different, yet nonetheless enjoyable,night.

2 comments :

cptfinch said...

A highlight, I thought, was when Yaron played Toxic by Britney Spears - although his gyrating and singing a la Keith Jarrett made it a bit obvious who his influence is.

Anonymous said...

Yeah - that was something else! I didn't mind the gyratingl in fact a bit of gyrating from 'Curios' might have made it easier for me to stay awake!

Blog Archive