Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Charlie Parker was my introduction to the religion of music. And so he's always with me .'' - Downbeat November 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

17927 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 891 of them this year alone and, so far, 104 this month (Oct. 31).

From This Moment On ...

November

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 07: Hejira @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. Celebrating Joni Mitchell.

Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm.

Sun 09: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Salty Dog @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). Jazz, blues, Americana.
Sun 09: Graham Hardy’s Eclectic Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Sun 09: David Gray’s Flextet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tue 11: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 11: Laura Jurd @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Thu 04: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Seasonal/Festive Music & Songs - autumn into winter.
Thu 13: Awen Ensemble @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00. Jazz-folk.
Thu 13: SwanNek + Ellen Beth Adbi + Phantom Bagman @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. A BBC Introducing event.

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, May 19, 2013

CD Review: Raquel Cepeda - I'm Confessin'


Bob Chadwick -  flutes; David Caceres - alto & tenor sax; Warren Sneed – tenor & soprano sax; Dennis Dotson  - trumpet; Paul English - piano, flugel horn, trumpet; Thomas Hulten  trombone; Brennen Nase - guitar; Guil Fonseca - guitar; Jeffry Eckels - Bass; Dean Macomber  - drums; Jorge Orta - Cro-Cro, percussion; Tony Parana - percussion; James Metcalfe  - percussion; Marcia Sterling - violin; Oleg Sulyga  - violin; Dan Strba – viola; Shino Hayashi -  cello.
(Review by Debra).
Venezuelan  jazz singer Raquel Cepeda is now resident in Houston, on account of her day job (no doubt far better paid) , as a geologist in the Texas oil industry.  Her solo debut is of jazz standards and a number of South American   bossa  novas, sambas and boleros. 
 Tonada de Luna LLena’, by compatriot Simon Diaz, is the outstanding track, with Cepeda’s  powerful, warm timbred vocal overlying  Andean flutes and percussion. Her expressiveness is similarly effective  in  the  ballad s which make up much of the rest of the album, particularly  Somios Novios and Besame Mucho.  The up tempo  numbers – What Is This Thing Called Love?, I Don’t Know Enough About You, East of The Sun -  give  the band,  led by Paul English, pianist and album producer, a chance to really swing, and the opportunity for the various  musicians to make solo contributions. However, there  is little improvisation from Cepeda, nor much variation in the phrasing or timing of her vocal delivery of the lyrics. Not surprisingly,  her fine voice is really  at home with  the Latin component of her repertoire, and that is likely to be  where her musical future, and possibly also her audience,  lies….. 
Debra.

No comments :

Blog Archive