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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. THIS WEEK ONLY JAMES BIRKETT (guitar)!
Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

MARCH 2025

Sat 01: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £15.00. Day 2/3.
Sat 01: TJ Johnson Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Get your funk on! Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ The Watch House, Cullercoats. 2:00-3:30pm. Free.
Sat 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Lapwing Jazz Trio @ Three Sheets to the Wind, Alnwick. 5:15pm or 5:45pm (times tbc). Part of the Alnwick Story Festival's music fringe programme: Free.
Sat 01: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Blues band.
Sat 01: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Joseph O’Brien: The Ultimate Tribute to Frank Sinatra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. O’Brien & seven piece band (inc. Wendy Kirkland, Jim Corry & Pat Sprakes).
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Jack & Jay’s Vintage Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 02: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £10.00. Day 3/3.
Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: Side Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Derwentwater Road, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Milne Glendinning Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 6:30pm.
Sun 02: Bella by Barlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 02: Ali Watson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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 21, 2012

CD Review: The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra - Christmas Time is Here.

Mark Tucker or Tim Green, David King (alt); Greg Tardy, William Boyd (ten/clt); Tom Johnson (bar/ bs. clt); Michael Wyatt, Stewart Cox, Michael Spirko, Tom Cox, Vance Thompson (tpts); Tom Lunberg, Don Hough, Chris Mac Tavish, Brad McDougall (tmbs); Robert Owen, Jeffrey Whaley, Mark Harrell, Mitzi Hall (fr. horn); Sande MacMorran (tub); Bill Swann (pno); Dan Trudell (org); Rusty Holloway (bs); Keith Brown (dms); Bob Adamcik (perc); Jill Andrews, Kelle Jolle,  + choirs.
(Review by Lance)
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, so please put a CD in the old man's hat.
When this disc arrived it reminded me that there were but 65 bopping days to Christmas and I hadn't even picked out a turkey!

Well, I can say from the outset that this disc is no turkey and it is most likely to be on the player on Christmas Day as I dismember the unfortunate bird and share it amongst the cannibals sitting around the table - hopefully with their ears as well as their mouths open.
The Knoxville Jazz Orchestra are based in East Tennessee and boast 17 of the area's top pro musicians. With a cushion of 12 original arrangements by leader Vance Thompson to work on the ensemble produces a sound comparable with almost any equivalent big band past or present.
Dan Trudell has several blasts on the good old faithful Hammond B3 blending nicely with the horns. Greg Tardy on tenor and Tim Green, alto, are also well featured. Both saxes have that delightful west coast feel about their playing - Bud Shank, Art Pepper, Bob Cooper, Bill Perkins - Thompson handles the trumpet solos equally well in the same idiom.
Jingle Bells, over a samba rhythm, has Green and Tardy having fun riding high on a one horse open sleigh.
Green continues blowing on A Not So Silent Night with the B3 keeping the neighbours awake - and I bet they're not complaining!
Jill Andrews treats Oh Little Town of Bethlehem as a ballad and she does it effectively. Leader Thompson says, "She has a gorgeous voice and really knows how to capture a mood. She also sounds like she's from East Tennessee, and I felt that was an important statement to make. We're not a New York band, after all."
To add to this wonderful Christmas stocking we have the Church Street United Methodist Choir and the choir of the Community Evangelistic Presbyterian Church giving a gospel feel to the final track - Children Go Where I send Thee.
Thank you Santa for making Hebburn your first stop!
Knoxville Jazz Orchestra - Christmas Time is Here is released on November 1. More on the KJO @ www.knoxjazz.org.
Lance.
PS: This CD is dedicated to the memory of Bill Scarlett - a legendary figure in East Tennessee music circles.

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