Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 2026)

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

19,012 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 876 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 16) 55.

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

From This Moment On

October.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Sue Ferris Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Pete Tanton (trumpet, flugelhorn).
Tue 20: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Head, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Tickets from Tully’s, Rothbury. Coquetdale Jazz. Note change of venue.
Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Scotty Adair.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: FILM: Blue Moon @ Washington Arts Centre. 1:00pm. £4.50 (inc. bf). Biopic of lyricist Lorenz Hart.
Wed 21: De'Sean Jones’ Urban Art Orchestra @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00.; £5.00. student, unwaged; free to Mercury Awards ticket holders. De'Sean Jones (tenor sax, EWI); Tjoe Man Cheung (guitar); Mikele Montolli (double bass) + others TBA.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 21: Roby Glod-Steve Sewell Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Thu 22: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 22: Mercury Prize @ Utility Arena Newcastle. 8:00pm. £60.25.; £48.75. Line-up inc. Knats.
Thu 22: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bandstand!, Exhibition Park, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.20 (inc. bf) via Instagram. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Thu 22: Olly Styles Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.75.

Fri 23: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Lit & Phil. 1:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Emma Fisk’s Hot Club du Nord @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 1:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Maja Bugge & Dave Evans @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Fri 23: Knats @ King Street Social Club, North Shields. 7:00pm. £17.00., £14.70., £11.30., £5.50. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Fri 23: Sara Oschlag & Arnie Somogyi w. Ben Lawrence @ Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Ben Lawrence (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass).
Fri 23: Ronnie Scott’s Soho Songbook @ Redhills, Durham. 8:00pm. James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (double bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums); Alex Garnett (sax); Polly Gibbons (vocals). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Fri 23: SwanNek + Jacob Egglestone @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Saturday, February 07, 2009

I Love a Piano by Roly

I listen to Radio 3 quite a lot. About a year ago I heard a piano piece that struck me as something really very special. Lyrical perfection maybe? It turned out to be Schubert's "Impromptu No 3 in Gb". I checked it out on YouTube - several renditions incl one by Alfred Brendel.
Brendel, now in his 80s I think, just completed his final concert tour. James Birkett went to one of them. He must be one of the greatest pianists of the 20th Century. Lo and behold I switched channels on TV a couple of nights back and discovered they were broadcasting Brendel from Snapes Malting.
What a player! And what did he finish the concert with? You've guessed it - The "Impromptu in Gb". Maybe it's a piece of art up there at the pinnacle of mankind's creativity? Also I was reminiscing (do that a lot these days) about my early interest in jazz which then was mostly piano - I liked Cuddly Dudley (Moore). On Youtube is his parody on a Beethoven Sonata. I also remember his party piece where he played a sonata but at the gorgeous final cadence, at the last second, he would insert a b7 needing resolution. It went on and on - he couldnt bring it to a close. If Dud hadn't been such a remarkable all rounder where would he have ended up if he had just concentrated on piano? (Lance says "Struggling to pay his mortgage!")
Roly.

7 comments :

Anonymous said...

Just listened to that piece Roly, just beautiful, the things I learn from this blog...thank you.
Liz

Anonymous said...

Hopefully he would have toured a lot more, ended up in my town and someone would have "made" me go see him (in case this was before I liked him around 1990). Would have been amazing. Well, if he didn't do movies, I wouldn't have known who he was and become a fan, so that wouldn't work. Okay, he'd play mostly piano but do a movie or two here and there. That would be ideal. :-)

And of course you wouldn't have people saying, "He played the piano?"

Anonymous said...

Quote from Dudley:
"I can't imagine not having music in my life, playing for myself or for other people. If I was asked, 'Which would you give up,' I'd have to say acting," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in 1988.

Anonymous said...

I often wonder how well known it actually was that Dudley Moore was such a brilliant pianoman? Certainly, known in UK but in the States? I wonder...

Anonymous said...

I knew, but then again, I'm a hardcore fan. :-) I keep meaning to show my mom the Audience With Dudley Moore DVD so she can see how cool he was in that department. Most people I talk to online don't even know who he is let alone what he did, though.

Anonymous said...

Lisa, I visited your site - I guess it's yours - "Forever Moore"? Impressed. Recommended for all Cud Dud fans.
The nearest I ever got to him was when I worked in a music store and I sold a pair of drumsticks to his then drummer, Chris Karan!

Anonymous said...

Hey Lance! Yep, that's my website. Thanks for checking it out!

Hm, so you touched a pair of drumsticks that basically hung out around Dudley" ;-D I should be glad I never go to meet him. As shy as I am, I would have just passed out. Then I'd wake up, he'd be gone and all I'd have is someone saying how I fell on him and I missed the whole thing, hahaha!

I do own a pair boots he wore in Like Father Like Son, though. Guess that's something. (And no I don't put them on and prance around the room looking at myself in the mirror. They're too small for me. Bwuahaha!)

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