Bebop Spoken There

John Donegan: ''What you take in through your ears can come out through your fingers.'' (Notes to Which Direction October, 2026)

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

19,030 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 894 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 22) 73.

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

From This Moment On

October.

Sun 25: Paul Edis workshop: Another Week, Another Composition - How I Compose @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham. 10:30am. £16.00. Durham Jazz Festival. CANCELLED!
Sun 25: Jo Harrop workshop: From Chester-le-Street to LA: A Singer’s Journey @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 11:00am. £8.50. Durham Jazz Festival. CANCELLED!
Sun 25: Janette Mason workshop: The Art of Arranging @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham. 12:30pm. £16.00. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Dean Stockdale Quartet: Celebrating Oscar Peterson @ Durham University Music School. 1:00pm. Line-up: Dean Stockdale (piano); Jamie Taylor (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Tom Atkinson’s Electric Miles: Celebrating Jack Johnson @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 2:00-3:15pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: SULA @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 2:30pm. Kezia Abouma (piano), Aleks Dimitrova (bass), Miranda Radford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. NOTE NEW TIME (2.30pm).CANCELLED!
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Swing into Sunday @ St Oswald’s Institute, Durham. 2:30pm. Lindy Jazz. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Richard Wetherall (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. Ruth Lambert (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass). RESCHEDULED to NOV. 1
Sun 25: Marvin Muoneké Quartet @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 4:00pm. Line-up: Dean Stockdale (piano); TBC (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Janette Mason Rewired @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 4:30pm. Line-up: Janette Mason (piano); Jakub Cywiński (double bass); Eric Ford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 5:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, Durham. 6:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sun 25: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Richard Wetherall (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 25: Durham University Jazz Society - Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 8:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Olivia Cuttill Quintet + King Pleasure & the Biscuit Boys @ Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, Durham. 8:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Mon 26: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 26: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest Ruth Lambert.
Tue 27: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 29: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 29: Simon Taylor Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. £8.00.
Thu 29: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

Sunday, June 08, 2014

CD Review: Tom Chang - Tongue and Groove.

Tom Chang - Guitar,  Greg Ward – Alto Sax, Jason Rigby – Tenor Sax, Chris Lightcap – bass Gerald Cleaver – drums, Akshay Anatapadmanabhan –Kanjira/Mridangam, T.H. Subash Chandran – Konnakol.
(Review by Steve H.)
The title of this album sent shivers down my spine as it brought forward images of parquet flooring  and other equally neat forms of jointed wood panelling to my dishevelled mind. Fortunately,  musicians and music dovetail perfectly in this debut album by  guitarist Tom Chang.
This album is bookended by tunes Spinal Tap/Goes to 11 and Spinal Tap Tk.2 which unsurprisingly are rampant heavy metal bashes . In between these twin stalwarts there are a variety  of styles from the fairly straight ahead Djangologo to the only non Chang penned number the classical composer Anton Webern’s Variations for Piano Op.27 which meanders somnambulistically into the short discordant Sleepwalker without blinking an eye. The two standout tracks on the album are the title track Tongue and Groove and a blues number which I will dedicate to our own black and white heroes Bar Codes. The former has an amazing  vocal percussive opening known as a Konnakol performed by Southern Indian Carnatic percussionist T.H. Subash Chandran  the piece continues with the alto of Ward and Chang’s guitar  circling around  Cleaver’s conventional western drums and Anatapadmanabhan’s   Indian Kanjira drum. A short  cheerful interlude  Scatterbrain leads into the aforementioned humdinger Bar Codes - blues rock number which at times has Chang  playing in the style of rock god Jimmys (Page and Hendrix) whilst Rigby on tenor performs a pure blues solo if only The Toon could play with such passion.  We are brought back down to earth with the subtle double bass led The Logos before the penultimate track the highly enjoyable Entangled Heart  with its Latin undercurrent brings us to the final headbanging reprise of Spinal Tap. If only my wife would let me use power tools I would be inspired to re-lay the dining room floor.
Steve H.
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2 comments :

Anonymous said...

HI,
Great Album, but where to buy it?
Tiziano Switzerland

Friday, June 20, 2014 2:18:00 am
Lance said...

Usual suspects I guess. Amazon or CD Baby (see added link).

Friday, June 20, 2014 6:14:00 am

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