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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

17822(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 143 of them this year alone and, so far, 68 this month (Feb.25).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025

Sun 02: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £10.00. Day 3/3.
Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: Side Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Derwentwater Road, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Milne Glendinning Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 6:30pm.
Sun 02: Bella by Barlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 02: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Spittal Bowling Club, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Ali Watson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 03: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. £8.00. ‘Jazz ‘n’ Pancakes’.
Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 04: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 06: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 06: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Jazz Music of Quincy Jones.
Thu 06: BBC Big Band @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. £32.00., £25.00., £16.00. ‘The Sound of Cinema’ featuring Emer McPartland (vocals).
Thu 06: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 06: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Dan Johnson (sax); Josh Bentham (sax); Gary Hadfield (keys); Adrian Beadnell (bass). A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Old Lowlight, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields NE30 1JE. 7:00pm. £15.00. + bf. www.oldlowlight.co.uk. Rescheduled from Friday 7th February.
Fri 07: Jake Leg Jug Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.

Sat 08: Jamie Taylor, Graham Harvey, Andy Champion @ Divinity House Concert Hall, Palace Green Music Dept., Durham University. 7:00-9:00pm (6:30pm doors). £7.50. (£6.00. DUJS member). ‘An Evening of Jazz’. Later in the evening the trio will be joined by Freddie Krone, drums (Durham Uni final year music student).
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lagos to Longbenton @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Afrobeat, jazz-fusion.

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

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

CD Review: Harry Allen - For George, Cole and Duke.**

Harry Allen (ten); Ehud Asherie (pno); Nicki Parrett (bs/vcl); Chuck Redd (dms/vbs) + "Little Johnny" Rivero (Latin perc.)
(Review by Lance).
Music is an audio experience but it can also be related to the other senses. Listening to Harry Allen on this disc is, compared to the majority of discs I receive that are full of original  compositions by some kid out of college, like the advent of spring (maybe not this Spring!) That they are by long gone composers, Gershwin, Porter and Ellington, only serves to pose the question - why try to improve upon perfection?

I appreciate this is a rather ambiguous statement and some of the newer kids on the block have indeed made valuable contributions - were this charge to be heard in Newcastle Crown Court I'm sure the defence would cite Paul Edis as Exhibit A. James Birkett and Andy Champion could also be called. However, I think the prosecution case could maybe subpoena a few more!
I digress, this CD is just about as good as it gets for swinging straight down the middle no frills jazz. Allen has assimilated the contributions of the heroes of the past - Lockjaw, Arnett Cobb, Budd Johnson, Ike Quebec - the guys we used to refer to as "The Tough Tenors" - and made them his own. Give him material such as this and it's candy to a baby!
It's been awhile since Allen was in Newcastle. Long overdue I think!
Not that this is a one man show - there's another three men and a woman involved (isn't there always?) The lady in question is Nicky Parrett who not only plays fine bass - dig her solo on They All Laughed - but also (I quote) "croons sweet vocals on "In a Mellow Tone;How Long Has This Been Going On? and Mood Indigo.
Asherie is outstanding on piano and Rivero brings the Latin touch to Love For Sale; Mood Indigo and the rather beautiful Purple Gazelle from Duke's Afro-Bossa album.
Chuck Redd keeps it together on drums but when he takes off on vibes - the rarely heard Gershwin song Who Cares? being a perfect example - he flies!
Always True to You in my Fashion; Happy Reunion; Silk Stockings (Porter); I Love You Samantha; Shall We Dance; By Strauss are the other tracks and every one is Napoleon Brandy, Mahatma Gandhi - Cellophane*
Listen here.
Lance
Available April 7 on Blue Heron Records.
*: From You're the Top by Cole Porter (not on disc).
**: Please make sure the comma is inserted between George and Cole if searching online otherwise you may end up buying a Cortina with a dodgy clutch!***
*** Reference to old TV series Minder featuring George Cole.
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