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HOWAY THE LADS!

Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sat 15: Hot Teapots @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm.
Sat 15: Lagos to Longbenton + Belladonna @ Whitley Bay Big Social, Whitley Road, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Afrobeat/jazz fusion + soul/funk/R&B
Sat 15: Creakin’ Bones @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: Is This Jazz? @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Tickets: www.eventbrite.co.uk. Performances by Mu Quintet, Jinjé, A Brief Utopia, John Pope & Co + André Marmot (author of Unapologetic Expression: The Inside Story of the UK Jazz Explosion) in conversation + DJ sets ‘til 3:00am. ‘A Festival of New Jazz’.
Sat 15: Vintage Explosion @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 15: Alligator Gumbo @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Sat 15: One Night Standards @ The White Room, Stanley. 8:00pm. £8.67 (inc. bf). Note - previously advertised Salty Dogs cancelled.
Sat 15: Howlin’ Mat @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Blues guitar.

Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: Pearl Blossoms @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Ragtime.
Sun 16: Hot 8 Brass Band @ Wylam Brewery. 7:30pm. ‘Big Tuba Tour’.
Sun 16: ARQ @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 16: Air4ce @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:30pm (8:00pm doors). £12.00.; £10.00. Tom Atkinson’s all-star band (line-up inc. Lindsay Hannon & Sue Ferris).
Sun 16: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Jamie Toms Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Laurence Harrison, Paul Grainger, Tim Johnston.
Tue 18: Phil Bancroft’s Beautiful Storm @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20 & £11.00.. A JNE-Gem Arts co-promotion.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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, December 17, 2014

CD Review: Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden/Paul Motian – Hamburg '72

Keith Jarrett (piano, soprano saxophone, flute, percussion); Charlie Haden (double bass); Paul Motian (drums, percussion).
(Review by Hugh)
The Trio with Charlie Haden and Paul Motian was Keith Jarrett's first great band. This recording is of the trio playing live at NDR Funkhaus, Hamburg in July 1972. This concert was part of the first European tour for this trio, organised by ECM. Manfred Eicher returned to the original analogue sources 42 years later, remixing the music first recorded by NDR, together with engineer, Jan Eric Kongshaug. It is somewhat poignant that this work took place the day after Charlie Haden's death.
The CD has six tracks, coming in at just over 55 minutes in total. The first track, Rainbow, is composed by Margot Jarrett. It commences with Jarrett's solo piano. I thought I detected a cough (usually forbidden in Jarrett concerts!) from the audience early on in the recording, until I realised the sudden sharp release of breath was probably the man himself. He is joined later by Haden and Motian in a supportive role but subtly integral to the whole music – this is the trio at it's best.
The next four tracks are Keith Jarrett's own compositions. Everything that Lives Laments commences as a lively duo between Charlie Haden on bass and Paul Motian on percussive instruments that bear a striking resemblance to Swiss cow bells. This is overlain with the flute of Keith Jarrett, alternately blown conventionally and then vocalised through. This is a strange kind of jazz, and to some perhaps not even music. Approximately two-thirds of the way into the piece the Alpine scene develops broader vistas as the Jarrett's sweeping pianism takes over. We now enter the land of slow chord progressions with a gentle undercurrent provided by Haden's bass and Motian's drums.
Piece for Ornette initially features Jarrett on skilful soprano sax with vigorous rhythmic support from the bass and drums of his colleagues. This interplay continues for a full seven and one half minutes (the sweat is almost tangible!) before slowing to allow Haden's bass to come to the fore, with background support from Motian on drums. The piano does not feature in this track – but appears as the third track segues seamlessly into the fourth. Take me Back returns us to the more conventional trio format (with Jarrett on piano and grunts). Life Dance appears almost unannounced, again featuring the regular trio line-up. All three are on top form throughout.
By far the longest track on the CD, at just over 15 minutes is Haden's Song for Che and is Jarrett's only recording of this piece. Naturally the bass features prominently from the beginning, with improvisational interplay of piano, drums and various percussive instruments. Jarrett again takes to soprano sax, with a haunting melancholic quality at times offset by a more earthy, primaeval sound accompanying the rhythmic, almost African style drumming of Motian. According to the publicity, Song for Che has become a new jazz classic – I'm sure it may well have, but not in this version, I think!
When this CD arrived on my desk, I was greatly looking forward to hearing it – it was actually on my Christmas list anyway. Having listened to it a few times it has grown on me. There are moments of pure beauty - Rainbow in particular – interspersed with a strange improvisatory melange, which can probably only be really appreciated in the live setting. Where the applause is left in the edit, the audience of '72 certainly seem to be enjoying it.
Hugh.
Hamburg '72 has been released on the ECM Label, Catalogue Number 470 4256.

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