Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 04: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 04: Ben Crosland Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

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

Saturday, April 11, 2015

GIJF Day One: Stan Tracey’s Under Milk Wood

Bobby Wellins (tenor saxophone), Steve Melling (piano), Andy Cleyndert (double bass), Clark Tracey (drums) & Ben Tracey (narration.)
(Review by Russell/photo courtesy of Ken Drew)
First night of the festival and Hall Two was near, as damn it, full to capacity. No real surprise given that one of the seminal works of British jazz was being revisited by a stellar line-up. Stan Tracey’s Under Milk Wood is fifty. Recorded in 1965, composer Tracey is no longer with us, but the tenor saxophonist on the recording date – Bobby Wellins – continues to perform, his powers undiminished.
The first set featured, effectively, the Bobby Wellins Quartet. The genial Scot clearly took great pleasure in leading an A-list band. Pianist Steve Melling played Melling, a good idea too, as who could emulate Stan Tracey? A fine pianist in his own right, the frame a little fuller, Melling’s flowing lines, light of touch, echoed those of Wellins.
A handful of tunes, forty five minutes flew by. Bass and drums – Andy Cleyndert and Clark Tracey – have worked together for years. The pair look little different from days gone by; Cleyndert now wearing spectacles (his music stand some distance from eyes), Tracey’s hang-dog visage much the same as it’s always been. Set highlights included Lover Man and an achingly good It Never Entered My Mind.
What to say about the Dylan Thomas-inspired work heard second set? The album (the original vinyl issue a collector’s item) has entered British jazz lore. Hearing B Wellins (tenor saxophone) play it live was a privilege. The Tracey family dynasty maintained a connection to the piece – drummer Clark and grandson Ben as narrator. Clark has it in DNA, Ben, word perfect, similarly has inherited the family jazz gene. I Lost My Step in Nantucket is a rarity – a British jazz standard, that’s the hallmark of Under Milk Wood. Thomas’ dark comic verse, delivered impeccably by Ben Tracey, frequently elicited a chuckle in the dimmed auditorium. It was, surely, as the author intended. The jazz was superb; solos punctuated the drama, the audience aware that on this occasion, applause should be reserved for an appropriate pause in the story. Under Milk Wood is a work to be heard on special occasions, this the 50th anniversary year, is one of them. Gateshead Jazz Festival got it right – an ‘I was there’ occasion.
Russell.

2 comments :

Hugh said...

Exellent summary, Russell. I too was pleased that the applause was reserved for those appropriate breaks in the delivery of Under Milk Wood - apart from that one man in the front...

Ken D said...

We've all seen it, heard it and enjoyed it quite a few times - but it still has a freshness when played live to this day. For me, seeing Bobby smile at various points of the prose was priceless. Ken D.

Blog Archive