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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Bellavana @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30-10:00pm. Free. A Late Shows event.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.
Sat 17: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Newcastle City Library. 9:00-10:00pm. Free. A 'Late Shows' event.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

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

Sunday, October 05, 2014

CD Review: Mark Elf Returns 2014

Mark Elf (gtr); David Hazeltine (pno); Peter Washington (bs); Lewis Nash (dms); Steven Kroon (perc. on 1 track).
(Review by Lance).
The world is full of great jazz musicians and, sadly, some of these don't achieve the recognition they deserve beyond their own shores. Mark Elf may be just such an unsung hero - at least in the UK - despite a career that has included record dates with Ray Brown, Clark Terry and Ed Thigpen and appeared on stage with Dizzy, Jimmy Heath, Lou Donaldson and, no doubt, countless others.
This, his first recording in 8 years, was due to be made in 2012 but Super Storm Sandy* put that on hold after his home was flooded.
Fortunately, it all eventually came together resulting in this fine album with Elf playing my kind of guitar and ne'er a foot pedal in sight. Think Barney, Herb, Jim, Tal and you get the picture. Taste and class. Seven originals and three standards make for very enjoyable listening. The originals include a couple played on baritone guitar - an instrument I'm not familiar with but which Elf uses to great effect playing with an almost plucked cello-like tonality to create a unique sound. Having said that, it's his playing of the conventional jazz guitar that floats my boat. Such lucidity, lines that flow with apparent ease and, above all, a sense of swing that eludes many contemporary players whilst at the same time Elf's playing is not at all dated.
He shares the above qualities with his cohorts. Hazeltine, on Elf's A Little Diddy (based on Duke Jordan's Jordu) brings to mind some of John Lewis' looser work with MJQ. Washington and Nash lay down the foundation and Kroon's Latin percussion on Michelle's Mambo injects some chilli powder to the mix. Titillating is just that! How does the first line of People Will Say We're in Love (track 9 of 10) go? Oh yes I remember - Don't throw bouquets at me...
Take it from me that, if there is any justice in the world, the bouquets will be coming fast and furious!**
Lance.
*:Mark Elf's poignant composition The Sandy Effect is inspired by the storm that destroyed his home and many neighbouring communities. I can share the emotion on this one as a close friend of mine who lives down by the Jersey Shore had her life turned upside down during that period of devastation. The guitarist pours his soul into this one and rightly so.
**: Currently No 1 on the JazzWeek Charts.

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