Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18383 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 247 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 17 ), 57

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, July 25, 2011

ACV @ The Bridge Hotel. July 24th

Andy Champion (double bass), Graeme Wilson (baritone & tenor saxophones), Mark Williams (guitar), Paul Edis (keyboards) & Adrian Tilbrook (drums). The current season of Splinter @ The Bridge gigs drew to a close with a commanding performance from Andy Champion's ACV. The quintet played Manchester Jazz Festival the previous day to great acclaim and a Dancing Dude! Here at The Bridge they were on home turf, sure to get a great reception with or without DDs!.
The material was a mix of tunes,some old, some new. Jack in the Green, A Line Made by Walking and the eponymous number from the debut album Fail in Wood have developed into razor sharp workouts for all five musicians.
The fiendishly difficult material was dispatched with aplomb. Outrageous solos were plentiful and when Mark Williams picked up a Flying V we had finally seen and just about heard it all. Pianist Paul ''Moog'' Edis cut a Nosferatu-like figure enveloping the audience in swirling mists of electronic sound. The band played it loud (Williams in fusion mode) then without missing a beat, inserted a few bars swingtime here and there before returning to the stated theme. Champion's New Peculier was every bit as good as Old Peculier (the legendary brew).
A killer set concluded with a murderous Without Bones. Hearing it, with Adrian Tilbrook, en passant giving a drum masterclass, was worth the admission money alone. Russell. Photos.

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