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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

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

Thursday, April 24, 2014

CD Review: Great Voices of Harlem - Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott, Donald Smith & Paul Zauner's Blue Brass

Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott (vcls); Donald Smith (vcl/pno/Rhodes); Paul Zauner (tmb); Barney Girlinger (tpt/flug); Klaus Dickbauer (alt/bs clt); Klemens Pilem (ten/alt fl); Martin Reiter (pno/Rhodes); Wolfram Derschmidt (bs); Howard Curtis (dms).
(Review by Lance).
The Gregory Porter name on the sleeve should be enough to have the fans scuttling to their nearest Amazon. The discovery that the great man only flies solo on three numbers may halt them in their tracks but it shouldn't. Even if Mr Porter had bought a ticket for Austria, and ended up in Crewe this would still be an important disc  - not least because it brings Mansur Scott and Donald Smith to a wider public.
Scott, 68, raised within a block of Minton's, spent a lot of time in prisons and detention centres and it shows in his singing - he's singing about life, about breaking rocks in prison (Doing Hard Time) and coming to terms with a stroke that left him completely paralysed down one side. You've never heard Stella By Starlight quite like this! You'll want to hear it again.
Smith, brother of renowned jazz/funk/soulster Lonnie Listen Smith, is another hidden Harlem gem - pianist, flautist and uniquely individual singer - My One and Only Love and Watermelon Man break away from  previous versions of these classics. Before the jury go out I think he'll cop for a plea bargain - the plea being originality.
Porter, Greg hadn't yet quite conquered the world when these tracks were recorded (2012) although he'd certainly crossed the Rhine. Superb versions of Moanin', Mona Lisa and Over The Rainbow along with a track where all three handle the vocal give a foretaste of what the world and Hoochie Coochie had in store!. 
The session took place at Stockerau in Austria, produced by trombonist Zauner, who also solos in a most appealing manner as do the other guys. Pilem's tenor brings to mind bygone German sax players such as Klaus Doldinger and Hans Koller (not to be confused with the pianist of the same name). Pilem plays nice flute too.
This one's going to be up there. Gregory on the brink of Greatness, Scott who should have been, and Smith, a truly unique talent. ****¾.
Great Voices of Harlem - Gregory Porter, Mansur Scott, Donald Smith is released on May 22. Distributed in UK by Discovery records.
Lance
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