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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, April 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

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

Wednesday, September 11, 2013

CD Review: Shane Cooper - Oscillations.

Shane Cooper (Bass); Bokani  Dyer (Keys); Reza Khota (Guitar); Kesivan Naidoo (Drums); Justin Bellairs (Alto); Buddy Wells (Tenor).
(Review by Steve H.)
One of the greatest gigs I ever attended was in the early 80's at the 100 Club in Oxford Street when the cream of exiled South African Jazz musicians, led on this night by Johnny Dyani and his band Witchdoctor’s Son, had the entire club on their feet dancing around the tables. Sadly much of that group  Chris McGregor on Piano, Dudu Pukwana on Saxophone and Dyani himself on bass are no longer with us all passing away far too young. We are lucky that legends from that era are still performing such as  Louis Moholo the drummer from Witchdoctor’s Son and the more internationally renowned Hugh Masekela and Abdullah Ibrahim to name but three.
Shane Cooper is a highly accomplished young South African bass player arranger and composer so I was really looking forward to hearing the new South African Jazz.
The album kicks of with Broken Blues which begins as if were part of the soundtrack for a Star Trek movie but soon makes it’s mark with some fine sax solos and a lively piano solo by Dyer.  Destination Unknown is a muscular number  led by the Alto player  Bellairs containing quotes from A Love Supreme Dead Letters is as the title suggests a rather morbid piece heavily influenced by Jaco Pastorious one would imagine.  The next three numbers  Shadowplay, The Herdsman and Drop Down/Deconstruct   are Jazz Rock pieces much in the Weather Report vein. Oriah is a post Bebop offering and Big Sky is a quite a mournful ballad. The title piece Oscillations is a meandering complex piece with lots of interesting time changes. The album concludes with a  reprise  Dead Letters which showcase’s Cooper’s admirable Double Bass skills.
All the players on this album are extremely gifted  and the rhythm section really drives the sound. Cooper’s compositions are top notch but this album owes more to the Jazz fusion world then it does to the legacy of the great South African bands of the exiled apartheid era.
As a postscript to the aforementioned gig one of the lads out with us that night noticed that Witchdoctor’s Son were playing the 100 Club again a couple of weeks later but instead of telling his mates who had accompanied him to the initial gig he used it as an opportunity to impress a young lady. When we found out we were furious especially as he said the second gig was just as good  as the first one. I would like to say he got happily married to the person in question but the relationship didn't last much longer and 30 years later I am still bearing a grudge!
Shane Cooper's Oscillation is currently available from Home Grown Records.

Steve H.

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