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Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, June 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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 2025

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: The Hopper-Watson Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £10.00. + £1.00. bf.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 10: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Soloists, Orchestras & Hot Fives.
Thu 10: Side Café Orkestar @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 11: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church, Cockton Hill Road, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00. A Bishop Auckland Jazz promotion. New venue (second Friday in the month)!
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Beehive, Earsdon NE25 0SZ. 5:00-7:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Fiona Finden Jazz Express @ Flash House Brewery, North Shields NE30 1DS. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

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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