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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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 09: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session now monthly, next one Thursday 2nd Feb, then first Thursday in the month thereafter.

Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.

Sat 11: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 11: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 12: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 12: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 12: King Bees @ The Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.
Sun 12: Dave Bottomley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar.
Sun 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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, May 28, 2014

CD Review: Tim Garland - Songs to the North Sky

Disc 1: Lighthouse. Tim Garland (tenor/soprano); Jason Rebello or John Turville or Geoffrey Keezer (piano); Asaf Sirkis (percussion);  Ant Law (guitar); Kevin Glasgow (elec. bass).
Disc 2: Songs to the North Sky. Garland (tenor/soprano); Sirkis (percussion); John Patitucci (double bass/Elec. bass); Neil Percy (tuned/classical percussion); Magdalena Filipczak (violin); Royal Northern Sinfonia Strings).
Tim Garland, long-time resident of a Whitley Bay lighthouse, former Composer-in-residence at Newcastle Uni and a collaborator with Sage Gateshead on many projects including Songs to the North Sky, has a strong affinity with the north east despite his Kentish Roots.
On disc 2, the saxophonist, composer, arranger, attempts to create soundscapes of the area 'twixt Tyne and Tweed and, by and large, succeeds. Aided by the Northern Sinfonia strings the 15 tracks take us on The Road Into Night, thru a Storm Over Kielder, to visualise Shapes Over Northumberland as well as allowing us (and Tim) the Freedom to Wander among other evocative settings.
On both tenor and soprano Garland probes and searches straying away from the A1 wondering where this side road, this cart track will lead him to. Perhaps a disused mine or a forgotten village inn serving nectar in a straight glass. Maybe a Lady of the Lake will offer to put him on the right road (or the wrong one). The unpredictable weather, the grandiose beauty of the Northumbrian landscape under a night sky, it's all here.
This is an important work that deserves to be judged, not just as jazz - which it undoubtedly is - but as a compositional triumph that transcends genre.
Disc 1 is more straightforward. This is his Lighthouse Trio with the addition of Law or Glasgow, on some tracks, and Rebello, Turville and Keezer sharing the piano duties throughout. Sirkis is present on both discs providing the required impetus with accuracy and precision.
There won't be many, if any, more compelling albums this year.
Lance.

3 comments :

Hugh said...

I am really looking forward to hearing this. John Fordham has given it 5 stars in the Graun http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/may/29/tim-garland-songs-to-the-north-sky-review-jazz

Hugh said...

Sorry about the spacing - it didn't look like that in my submission!

Did TG actually live in a lighthouse in Whitley Bay (this certainly seems to have entered popular mythology and may well be the case) or did he just record in the lighthouse?

Lance said...

I confess to taking the mythology route - I could be wrong!

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