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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 03: John Gregory @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar.

Sat 04: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Square, Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £5.00. Xmas party (rescheduled from early December).

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Monday, November 29, 2010

Review: Branded by Brass Jaw

Ryan Quigley (tpt); Paul Towndrow (alt); Konrad Wiszniewski (ten); Allon Beauvoisin (bar).
One of the highlights of this year's Gateshead Jazz Festival was the horn quartet - Brass Jaw.
They exploited the acoustics of the old St Mary's Church to their best advantage and I came away totally uplifted which, of course, is what you're supposed to do when you leave a church.
Ryan Quigley and Paul Towndrow could easily lay claim to being the UK's number one on their respective instruments with the other two not far behind.
However, one thought did stick - it's great live but, given the scope granted when performing quadrophonically in front of an enthusiastic audience, would it stand up on a cold winter's morn with only the ghosts of Christmas for company?
It stood up!
In fact the ghosts were dancing - no haunting for them this year.
Four great horn-players going off in four different directions yet never losing sight of each other. This is truly amazing music-making that sometimes combines arranged ensembles with solos that are conventional and sometimes free whilst at other times the ensembles remind me of the Art Ensemble of Chicago doing a Dixieland gig! Brass Jaw are avant garde yet still manage to remain within the bounds of convention - albeit boundaries that they themselves have extended.
Such is the strength of Allon B's baritone sax backing that the absence of a rhythm section as such isn't missed in the slightest.
14 of the 17 tracks are band originals the others being Rodger's and Hart's Little Girl Blue, John Lennon's Drive My Car and Frank Zappa's Peaches En Regalio.
This could be my Record of the Year!
Branded by Brass Jaw is officially released on Dec. 1, 2010 on Keywork Records.
It can be obtained from http://www.brassjaw.co.uk/.
Lance.
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