Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

June

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Forgotten Ones & Any Quintets.
Thu 25: Edgar Ho Trio @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Brilliant alto sax, piano & double bass trio. Unmissable!
Thu 25: 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 26: Finn-Keeble Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9:00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Clark Tracey @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. £26.00. Day 1/2.

Sat 27: OUTRI @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £13.01. 1:00-1:45pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: House of the Black Gardenia + Magpies of Swing @ The Cumberland Arms, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sat 27: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 2:15-3:15pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 3:45-4:45pm. £13.01. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2.
Sat 27: Rory Ingham @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 5:30-6:30pm. £19.51. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Ingham w. Dean Stockdale, Ian Paterson, Dave McKeague.
Sat 27: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 27: Laura Jurd @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £26.00. Newcastle Jazz Festival. Day 2/2. Sat 27: Brass Fiesta @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 10:30pm. Free.

Sun 28: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 28: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 28: Tim Kliphuis Trio @ St Mary’s Church, Wooler. 3:00pm. £18.00., £6.00. A Wooler Arts Summer Concerts event. Tim Kliphuis (violin); Nigel Clark (guitar); Roy Percy (double bass).
Sun 28: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 28: An Evening of Jazz @ St James’ Church, Copper Chare, Morpeth. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 from 01670 788869 or 01670 519923. Mid Northumberland Chorus (MD Robin Forbes, Emma Straughan, piano) w. jazz trio featuring Edgar Ho, Oscar Ho & Dave McKeague & special guest Emily Masser. Performance inc. Bob Chilcott’s A Little Jazz Mass + George Shearing’s Songs & Sonnets.
Sun 28: Led Bib @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.00., £12.00. JNE.

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Friday, September 16, 2011

CD Review: Mark McKnight Organ Quartet - Do or Die

Mark McKnight (guitar), Seamus Blake (saxophone), Ross Stanley (organ) & James Maddren (drums) Mark McKnight's second CD Do or Die features a UK-based organ band. The tunes are McKnight's - the exception being Rodgers and Hart's Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered - and his hand-picked band has honed the material to perfection. 
The ubiquitous Ross Stanley plays Hammond with restraint never seeking to dominate. Drummer James Maddren - a graduate of the Royal Academy of Music - bristles with technique yet he too plays with commendable reserve. Band leader McKnight is a supremely gifted guitarist and New Yorker Seamus Blake's tenor complements and completes the group sound on this most satisfying new release from Whirlwind Recordings. 
The opening track, the eponymous Do or Die, sets the standard and features some post-Coltrane tenor intensity. Pieces is a relaxed piece exemplifying the CD as a whole. Nightcap goes with a lyrical, '60's Modern jazz feel; McKnight languorously fluent, Blake likewise, Stanley stabbing and swirling, Maddren wonderfully loose throughout. Bewitched is an inspired inclusion on this recording. A classic number, it is approached with due reverence and the result is stunning. It will be a long time before this take is bettered and hearing it live on the band's forthcoming UK tour will be an eagerly anticipated occasion. 
McKnight can do contemporary and Tease demonstrates the point. A drum 'n' bass vibe underpins McKnight's scaling of the heights and Blake joins in the fun with some blistering tenor work. On Contemplate Hammond maestro Stanley conjures an ethereal church organ sound upon which McKnight constructs a considered solo followed by superb tenor from Blake. The CD's closing number (We'll) Just Disappear is a fitting finale with Blake once again in the spotlight with more taut, intense playing of the highest order. 
The CD is officially released on 26th September. The band is about to embark on an extensive tour of the UK - the first date (the first of 14 gigs in 13 days!) is in Bristol this Sunday (18th). Hopefully the CD will be available at venues during the band's travels throughout the land. 
Check out Mark McKnight's website - www.markmcknight.co.uk - for details of where you can catch the band live. Do 0r Die (Whirlwind Recordings WR461). 
Russell.
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1 comment :

Dan Blake said...

Hi Russell,

If you would like a copy of Seamus Blake's most recent CD, "live at Smalls" to review please send me a mailing address.

Dan Blake (dblake41@gmail.com)

Sunday, September 25, 2011 6:47:00 am

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