Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 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

18037 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 458 of them this year alone and, so far, 36 this month (June 11).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sun 15: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm.
Sun 15: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 15: Hannah Brine Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 16: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:30pm. Free. Concert performance (open to the public)..
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 19: Gareth John & the SOS Big Band @ The Forum Music Centre, Darlington. 7:00pm. £25.00.

Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: David Gray's Flextet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 20: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £21.50. ‘Time After Time’.br/> Fri 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 20: King Bees @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, March 25, 2015

CD Review Samadhi Quintet - The Dance of Venus

Krzysztof Urbanski (tenor & soprano saxophones), Dominic J Marshall (piano), Sam Vicary (bass), Sam Bell (percussion) & Sam Gardner (drums).
(Review by Russell).
The Dance of Venus is a phonographic celebration of life, consciousness and the universe and the group explore the role of meditation and still consciousness in music. The album is inspired by the Quadrivium – the four Liberal Arts of Number, Geometry, Music and Cosmology, studied from antiquity as a means to perceive the beautiful numerical order that characterizes the universe. 
Don’t switch off! Read on…

Bandleader Sam Gardner has studied the Indian classical repertoire of the tabla under the brilliant Bhupinder Singh Chaggar and Jesse Bannister and adapted it for drum kit. There is the little matter of drum studies with Dave Hassle and Gary Husband (in recent years drummer of choice for John McLaughlin) and one begins to see where the amiable young drummer is coming from. Gardner has gigged many times in Newcastle, indeed all of the band have appeared on Tyneside of late (Singh Chaggar memorably so in concert at the Corner House) and the above blurb can be taken as you wish. What counts is the music – and it’s great! Krzyztof Urbanski is an award-winning saxophonist with commendations from the likes of Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Kenny Burrell. Pianist Dominic J Marshall is another garlanded young musician and the common denominator between he and Urbanski is they are gloriously Old Skool players. Yes, they’ve got attitude (hip hop attitude), why wouldn’t they (so young, so talented)?
Eight tracks make up The Dance of Venus. Flowing, turbulent, tight, myriad influences – American jazz, hip hop, Indian rhythms, Latin rhythms (percussionist Sam Bell spent a year in Cuba as a student). Track six – Deimos – encapsulates all that is best about this recording. Superb musicianship (great bass playing by the third Sam, Sam Vicary), the acoustic quality of the studio recording exemplary, five ‘tuned-in’ musicians. Listen to the CD, that’s all that matters. Catch them live, they’re impressive. The Dance of Venus by Samadhi Quintet is available now on the F-IRE label (F-IRECD81).    
Russell.

No comments :

Blog Archive