Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

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, December 03, 2012

CD Review: New Cool Collective - Eighteen

Benjamin Herman (alt/fl/vcl); David Rockefeller (tpt/tmb/flg/vcl); Anton Goudsmit (gtr/vcl); William Friede (Rhodes/keys/vcl); Lesley Lopez (bs/vcl); Justin Kroon (dms/vcl); Frank van Dok (perc/vcl); Jos de Haas (perc/ lead vcls).
(Review by Lance)
A lovely reminder of last Saturday's gig at Hoochie - indeed several, if not all, of the tunes on this CD were played that night. The music is totally infectious - it hits you with a triple whammy - your head your heart and your feet - particularly your feet! The Reggae, Ska, Calypso rhythms behind the horns make it impossible to sit still!
It's not all Caribbean though - The Donkey is a kind of Night Owl guitar blast and the Afrikaans' style vocal number Ogun - presumably related to that area of Nigeria - has some tightly muted Milesian trumpet from Rockefeller and post Parker alto from Herman.
Herman shines again on 12 Monkeys - there is a fluency about his playing that sends off all sorts of good vibrations and I don't mean the Beach Boys! Frankie and Gracie is another one where Herman wails. I remember hearing the late Piet Noordijk back in the 1980s and Herman is up in that class.
Como Camina has a Horace Silver feel to it (Senor Blues/Cape Verdean Blues) and Rockefeller's gutsy trumpet would, in a different era, easily have gelled with Silver or Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Sanctification displays the trumpet player's more lyrical side and brings the disc to an almost ecclesiastical close.
If you're having a party this Xmas and NCC are already booked go for this disc but keep the doors and windows closed otherwise the whole street will be crowding into your living room!
More detail of  New Cool Collective - Eighteen on www.doxrecords.com.
Lance.

No comments :

Blog Archive