Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 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

18548 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 412 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 19) 66

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

May

Mon 25: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 26: Noel Dennis Sextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £12.00. A Miles Davis centenary concert (Davis b. 26. 5. 1926). Noel Dennis (trumpet); Harry Keeble (tenor sax); Dean Stockdale (piano); Mark Williams (guitar); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums). SOLD OUT!
Tue 26: Lagos to Longbenton @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 27: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 27: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 27: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 27: Neighbourhood Watch + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00. Rivkala (solo).

Thu 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 28: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Miles Davis & His Favourite Musicians.
Thu 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 28: Bobby Rush @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00. + bf. Veteran USA bluesman.
Thu 28: Squabble @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 28: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 29: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 29: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 29: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.

Sat 30: Giles Strong Quartet @ Langley Tracks, Langley on Tyne NE47 5LA. 5:30pm (doors). £15.00 + £1.50 bf.

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Jazz 625 - Stan Getz Quartet

Stan Getz (ten), Gary Burton (vibes), Steve Swallow (bs), Roy Haynes (dms).
In retrospect, this 1966 recording was probably a landmark event bringing together as it did the old and the new.
Roy Haynes, a near founder figure of the bebop movement in the late forties, Getz 'the king of cool' in the fifties and two forward thinkers of the sixties in Burton and Swallow all together at the London School of Economics. At least the student audience showed a modicum of enthusiasm compared to the embalmed bodies in search of a coffin from previous shows.
And well they should! Getz, riding high on his bossa-nova success "Desafinado" played with the sound that had been his trademark for many years and if he didn't break any new ground - that period was still on the horizon - what he did was fine by this listener.
Gary Burton, looked amazingly young and naive - in a couple of years his hair would be rockstar length and his music tailored accordingly but tonight he kept within the bounds of convention. Likewise Steve Swallow on double bass - he was positively Brooks Brothers tonight.
On drums, Roy Haynes kept it all swinging and had a well applauded solo - I wonder, has there ever been a drum solo that wasn't well applauded?
Tunes? There was "Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square" - Getz at his most languorous. "Silver Bells (or Belles)" composed and performed by Gary. A stomping "Ornithology", the inevitable "Desifinado" taken faster than on record - maybe he wanted it over and done with.
Stan also blew a wistful "When The World Was Young" and Steve worked-out on a Jobim thing.
Someone tell me - is the Bossa-Nova an actual dance like the Rhumba and Samba etc? And, if so, does anyone know how to do it?
Lance.

2 comments :

Liz said...

"Blame it on the Bossa Nova...the dance of love..." must be a bit like the rhumba, I'm sure it's a dance, pardon me whilst I do a turn around the floor!

Miles said...

Bossa Nova is Portuguese for New Trend the music came first based on the Samba followed by a dance that never became popular (Blame it on the Wikipedia.)

Blog Archive