Total Pageviews

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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 15: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 15: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session. TBC.

Thu 16: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 17: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Joe Steels Trio w. Graham Hardy @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. (inc. a welcome drink & table reservation). Book at: www.drinks@thepele.co.uk. A ‘Jazz at the Pele’ promotion.
Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

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

Saturday, August 09, 2014

CD Review: Grand Fatilla - Global Shuffle

Roberto Cassan (accordion); Matt Glover (electric mandolin); Fabio Pirozzolo (percussion, voice); Mike Rivard (double bass, sintir); also Claudio Ragazzi (acoustic and 12 string guitars, cuatro puertorriqueno); Christian Cassan (additional percussion)
(Review by Ann Alex).
Lance said ‘You’ll love this CD’ and he certainly wasn’t wrong, though I still don’t know what a ‘cuatro puertorrqueno’ is.  It sounds like a Spanish medicine.  The sintir is apparently a 3-stringed bass lute, so think Medieval for that one.  Anyway this is a humdinger of great listening, a whirl of world sounds, encompassing Bulgarian dance song, Moroccan chaabi grooves, Italian folk ballads and slinky tango rhythms.  Not jazz as such, but some tracks have what sound like improvised solos, so why worry about classifying it, the music is superb.
It begins with a lively Cigansko Oro, a Balkan dance tune with percussion, rousing accordion, shifting time signatures, ending with accordion playing in 7/8 time, then comes Five Of Swords, featuring the sintir.  Alla Carpinese  starts with a bass solo, followed by mandolin and a traditional song with  Castanets.  Bebe features a melody with descending riffs and (I think) improvised solos from the band; Sandansko Oro, a Bulgarian dance, gradually builds tension and speed; Milonga Para Lucia is a sort of slow tango where chimes of music are overlaid by an accordion tune, with whistling to round off the track.  Fracanapa is another tango, this time with a ‘dragging’ effect in the music.  (A fracanapa is a Venetian mask.)  My favourite track 11 Southern Italian Medley is a combination of 2 songs, a haunting shepherd’s song sung over a drone, and a fast song which is meant to cure the listener of the effects of a bite from the tarantella spider.  I’m not sure if the cure worked but the music does, with effective percussion. 12 tracks in all, many lasting more than 7 minutes, providing good value.
Although Grand Fatilla have been performing for over 6 years, this is their debut album, which was recorded live in an old church which is now used as a studio.  You can see the band at the CD release party on September 4 but you will have to go to Cambridge MA, USA. See also www.grandfatilla.com 
Ann Alex.

No comments :

Blog Archive