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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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, November 06, 2013

CD Review: Jazz Combustion Uprising - Self Immolation.

Henry Hung (tpt); Grant Levin (pno); Andrew Ryan (dms); David "Elaine" Alt (saxes); Kenny Annis (bs) + Gabe Davis (bs); Alicia Bell (voice); Wendell Hanna (bassoon); Jane Lenoir (fl).
(Review by Lance)
This came in today as a late contender and, whilst it may not grab the top spot, it's going to be up there!
Fiery compositions, Equal parts, Innovation and Dedication with Blistering Solos and a Vintage Rooted Sound. So said the album notes and hey - they were right! My review done by them in a single sentence!
But no, I've got to earn my virtual corn and expound further.

The eleven tracks are split into three groups - Blues, Standards, Modern and alongside each title is the inspiration e.g. Roberta, Roberta (Louis Jordan, Dexter Gordon); Oxtail Soup (Horace Silver, Charles Mingus); Series of Adjustment (Thelonious Monk, Lester Young); Rising (Wayne Shorter, Abbey Lincoln); The Unmemorable Evening (George Russell, Steve Lacy); Bike Lanes, Coming, (Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner); Bike Lanes, Going (Pharoah Sanders, Sun Ra, Gil Scott-Heron) etc.
This isn't just jazz of whatever persuasion it's also jazz theatre and performed with the drama, passion, humour and emotion that comes with good theatre and this is good jazz theatre
Alt, not sure why his middle name is "Elaine", blows great tenor and alto and Hung blows like Kenny Durham. This is one of those albums that came out of left field and sent me into orbit - seriously it is that good. There are even moments when they venture "outside" but not many and, by and large, these are contemporary boppers who, on these forays beyond the city walls do so to hog-tie the critters outside and bring them in!
Love it, not least because it reminds me that jazz can look to the future without forgetting its past.
The disc is dedicated to the late Tunisian street grocer Tarek Al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi. "We salute his courageous spirit and the self-activity it has inflamed." 
I don't know anything about Tarek but if he can inspire the music on this disc he must have been one helluva grocer!
Jazz Combustion Uprising - Self Immolation is available on the Flaming Hakama Label .
Lance

3 comments :

James said...

Lance, Tarek Al-Tayeb Mohamed Bouazizi is widely credited with starting the Arab Spring, protesting the Tunisian corruption and draconian laws with an act of self immolation, causing riots leading to regime change that spread across large parts of Asia. I think you might have heard about that?

Lance said...

Thanks James, now I know!

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review!

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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