Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 821 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 30.) 100.

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

October.

Wed 07: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. Wed 07: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 07: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 07: Black is the Color of My Voice @ Northern Stage, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman stage play inspired by Nina Simone. Second night of two.

Thu 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 08: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).
Thu 08: Indigo Jazz Voices w. Little Big Band @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 09: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Fri 09: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
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: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle.

Sat 10: Catfish Keith @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.00. + bf. Jumpin’ Hot Club.

Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Feat. guest Jack ‘Banjo’ Courtney (trumpet).
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Harry Christelis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Jazz Co-op-JNE co-promotion.

Mon 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 12: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

CD Review: Joe Gilman - Relativity.

Joe Gilman (pno/Rhodes); Nick Frenay (tpt/flug); Chad Lefkowitz-Brown (ten/bs clt); Zach Brown (bs); Corey Fonville (dms)..
(Review by Lance.)
Not being familiar with the work of Dutch artist M.C. Escher I viewed Relativity with some trepidation. Gilman points out that "Visual art and music have been sympathetic forces for generations as evidenced by Cage and Rauschenburg, Granados and Goya, Rachmaninoff  and Boskin, Corea and Picasso." And so Gilman links up with the work of Eschner (1898-1972) for what turns out to be an absolute delight!
Hard bop swingers contrast with reflective explorations.
Eschner was said to paint from the mind rather than actual observations, although the Gilman group, I would suggest, blow from the heart!
Lefkowitz-Brown is a tenor player in the Hank Mobley mode - hard blowing and swinging yet tender and sensitive on bass clarinet. On trumpet/flugel, Frenay is cool and laid back.Bass and drums more than tick the boxes - they drive it along.
Leader Gilman - actually Dr. Gilman - is, among other positions, a full time professor of music at American River College, Sacramento. He is also musical director of the Brubeck Institute's Fellowship Program which may have influenced the late Dave Brubeck to say "Joe Gilman is certainly one of the greatest pianists I've ever heard."  Maybe that is, perhaps, a slight over-statement but the fact remains that he is a very very good pianist and his playing and his compositions reveal him to be a top drawer composer too.
This could have been my record of the year if it wasn't for the fact it was actually released last year!
If nothing else, it introduced me to the work of M.C. Esher. The paintings I have seen are brilliant, albeit quite mathematically geometric - the music is much looser but they do complement each other. In fact I rather wished I had had one hanging above the PC as I listened to the CD.
Tracks: Three Spheres, Waterfall, Three worlds, Smaller and Smaller, Covered Alley, Encounter,Snow, Day and Night, Sky and Water, Dewdrop, Ascending and Descending.
Lance.
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