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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 07: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

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: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
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: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

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: The Ted Howe Jazz Orchestra – Pinnacle

(Review by Hugh)
Ted Howe is a Los Angeles based pianist, composer, arranger, producer and teacher.  Pinnacle is his seventh CD as leader.  The central core of the CD is Howe's Suite #1 for Jazz Orchestra.  Howe wrote the suite as his first piece of extended composition for this kind of ensemble.  The suite was premiered in 2011 at the Conant Arts Centre in Oglethorpe University in Atlanta, Georgia (Tate lived in Atlanta for many years).  The suite is presented in three movements of equal duration over a total of 18 minutes as tracks 3, 4 and 5.

Track 1, Presto for Two Trombones and Track 2, Impromptu for Trumpet nicely set the scene.  The orchestra has a lush sound and the first track features fine solos by Andy Martin and Francisco Torres.  John Patitucci also features on bass solo.  The trumpet solos on the second track are provided by Lester Walker in this sweet melodic number.
Suite #1 for Jazz Orchestra draws on the horizontal, linear approach commonly used in classical music.  Howe states that his compositions  “are not just about the music; they're also about the instruments, the varied combinations of sound they make, and how great musicians can rise to just about any challenge and take the music to new and exciting places”.
The suite has the big-band feel, with a laid-back West Coast groove, which is simultaneously pleasant on the ear and not too taxing on the brain.  It evokes for me what I used to think of in my childhood as “going over Golden Gate Bridge music” (remember Ironside?).  The suite as a whole has a definite filmic quality – listening to the suite one can imagine a series of scenes evoked by the music at that particular moment. 
The suite is followed by Adagio for Piano, featuring Ted Howe.  This retains the laid back groove with nice pianism by Howe, but no fireworks.  Jazz Etude for Three Clarinets features solos by Sam Skelton on E flat clarinet and John Patitucci on acoustic bass.

The CD as a whole then, does not challenge, but if you like this kind of thing (which I do) is a fine example of the oeuvre.  Pinnacle was released on March 3 on the Hot Shoe Worldwide label, catalogue number HSW 102.  It is available from hotshoerecords.com or cdbaby, but as far as I can see is not yet listed on either amazon.co.uk or amazon.com at the time of writing.
Hugh.
Ted Howe (piano); Geoff Hayden  (piano, Rhodes); John Patitucci (acoustic and electric bass); Marlon Patton (drums); Jose “Bam Bam” Ramirez (percussion); Don Baraszu (acoustic and electric guitar); Sam Skelton (flute, clarinets, soprano and alto sax); Don Erdman (clarinet, tenor sax); Seth Kuehn (baritone sax, bass clarinet); Mike Barry, Melvin Jones and Lester Walker (trumpet, flugelhorn); Wes Funderburk, Tom Gibson, Andy Martin and Francisco Torres (trombone).

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