Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. 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

Friday, March 14, 2014

CD Review: Trio Riot Trio Riot

Mette Rasmussen (alto saxophone), Sam Andreae (tenor saxophone) & David Meier (drums)
(Review by Russell).
The eponymous debut CD from Trio Riot, recorded in November 2012, documents the trio’s instant impact as a gigging band. Described as a ‘punk-jazz’ outfit, formed in Helsinki in 2009, inspiration is drawn from twentieth century musics – contemporary composition, jazz, punk and a healthy dose of Zappa irreverence. The opening track – 3 – recalls NYC’s pranksters The Hub; killer articulation, guessing-game switch-back writing. Lala-Lala, heard live on previous tours, develops an irritating hook until Sam Andreae’s rasping tenor briefly breaks free. An audible ‘Yeah’ reigns in the tenor, hook reinstated and they take it out.
Drummer David Meier’s Rondeau adopts the classical form; repetition, twin horn unison work, powerhouse percussion work from the composer. Mette Rasmussen’s I’m So Glad It Wasn’t Me opens with a similar repetitive motif then breaks down into improv mode, returning once more to the hook. Rasmussen’s Candid delivers a further short, insistent riff, the piece itself brief. Stop-start motifs abound on the recording and Bartstock maintains the thread as vigorous blowing is heard atop Meier’s hard-hitting rhythmic patterns. Dadadadadadada doesn’t take itself too seriously – with a title like that how could it? Comic cuts, shotgun drumming, done. 31 embraces an extended free form section (the trio in peak form), a welcome diversion from the strict structures of what has gone before. Joy Division’s Disorder puts a handle on things (the repetitive percussive feel) and The Last Hurrah, mellow, melodic, atypical, closes the album. Trio Riot’s Trio Riot is released on Efpi (www.efpirecords.com) on 17th March. Tour dates include London’s Vortex (March 24), Jazz Café, Newcastle upon Tyne (March 25) and Free Range in Canterbury (March 27).          
Russell.

No comments :

Blog Archive