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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 2025).

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

17945 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far, 22 this month (April 8).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Only Six Standards.
Thu 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Fri 18: Alexia Gardner @ Fika Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 7:00pm. Trio (Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy).RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13

Fri 18: Sarah Jane Morris & Tony Remy: The Sisterhood @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00.

Sat 19: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 19: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. 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

Sunday, October 14, 2012

CD Review: Danny Green - A Thousand Ways Home.

Danny Green (pno); Justin Grinnell (bs); Julien Cantelm (dms).; Tripp Sprague (sop/ten) + Eva Scow (mand);  Peter Sprague (gtr); Chico Pinehiro (gtr); Claudia Villela (vcl); Dusty Brough (gtr).
(Review by Lance)
A gem! San Diego based pianist Green is a new name to me even though his debut album With You in Mind won the San Diego Music Awards for Best Jazz Album. I haven't heard that album but if it's half as good as this one it must have walked off with the prize 64 bars ahead of the rest!

Green is a swingy pianist with strong evidence of his classical background seeping through - at times I could detect a whiff of Jacques Loussier. Nothing wrong with that except Green doesn't rely on JSB for his material - he writes his own.
Yes originals - often the bane of my life - but these are good catchy, easy to pick up on themes. Track 10 - Back To Work could, with practice, become a repertoire item for any band. Sprague plays the theme on soprano over a Bossa rhythm before taking off on a solo that is verging on perfection - you know what I mean you get the feeling that not one note could be changed. Green's piano solo takes it along at the same high level before going - back to work!
Brazilian vocalist Villela sings Quintal da Solidao with that puckish delivery inherent in so many Brazilian singers. The song could have been written by Jobim but I defy anyone to sing it better than Villela.
The guitarists all have their moments in the sun but the surprise package is Eva Scow. I've never thought highly of mandolins in a jazz setting but Eva knows her way around the instrument and on her four tracks she demonstrates that, in the right hands, the mandolin has a place in jazz.
Love this one but...like just about every CD you get these days - dark text on a slightly darker background makes the notes impossible to read. Still the music makes up for it!
Check out this YouTube sample.
Danny Green - A Thousand Ways Home goes out on the Tapestry Label on October 16.
Lance.

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