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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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, September 29, 2013

CD Review: Paul Edis Not Like Me

Paul Edis (piano).
(Review by Russell)
Paul Edis deservedly won praise for his sextet’s debut album There Will Be Time and his first solo piano recording is set to win further plaudits. This review of twelve tracks (nine of them composed by Edis) was undertaken without the usual accompanying notes indicating titles and running times. So, in a blindfold test, what to make of it? The album title is intriguing… Not Like Me. Having heard Edis in concert on numerous occasions,  one observation is that this is just like him!

It is evident that a fine piano was at his disposal and Edis makes best use of it. The opening track signals a conversational style; simple right hand motif, left hand explorations and a wonderful sudden ending. Notes made during the second track read ‘ballad…flowing…contemporary composition’. But was this an original composition? Difficult to tell. A good sign. The first of the standards  - Round Midnight - features Edis’ thoughtful approach to classic jazz material. How to say something new about Monk.? Play the tune, let it happen. Edis does just that. 
Another Edis composition has the pianist under the lid to attend to the plumbing. A mid-tempo, down beat melody develops into complex textures, punctuated by a dark chord change, then another. Track five, hinting at My Favourite Things, highlights flowing two-handed piano as the composer gets inside the tune, thoroughly examining it with another great ending. 
A slower tempo number reveals the melody-rich Edis, the sort of tune a vocalist could pick up on. The seventh installment, with an element of nursery rhyme, hears solid two handed playing, sustained notes ringing out. The eighth reminds the listener of Edis’ classical background - an introspective intro of descending lines which wouldn't be out of place on the concert platform. 
My Favourite Things swings with a blues feel and a  touch of stride. Hear Edis play this live and you will struggle to suppress the cry Bravo!  The penultimate number has to be heard. Bring Me Sunshine is a tour de force; comic, pub sing-a-long, (the brilliant) Les Dawson and the equally brilliant Dudley Moore. Bravo!  The final composition sketches delicate improvisations across an uncluttered, quiet canvas. Not Like Me is, at present, available as a download. Essential listening. www.pauledis.co.uk
Russell.

2 comments :

Paul Edis said...

Thanks for the great review! Apologies for the lack of track listings - I thought I'd put a sleeve with the CD...in case you're still curious(?!) the tracks are as follows
1 Pulse
2 From Nothing to Nowhere
3 Round Midnight
4 Eastern
5 Not like me
6 For Bill
7 Vignette
8 Olivier
9 My Favourite Things
10 Beneath the Surface
11 Bring Me Sunshine
12 Sunrise
Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

I've occasionally heard Paul Edis play solo pieces at gigs where he is part of a group but sadly have never had the opportunity to get to one of his solo piano performances, so what a delight to discover he has made a solo album. I'm a CD (or vinyl) man myself but in this case an instant download was required. What a great album and what a variety of styles and influences! Russell did a very good job in his 'ears only' review picking up on the sources Edis has integrated into the tracks - Bill Evans, Monk, classical, improv, stride and I think I can hear Tatum come in the door a few times. However, while the shade of Les Dawson does hang over Bring Me Sunshine, surely the credit should go to Eric M and Andre Preview (and the notes are still not in the right order!).
JC

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