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.

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.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

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

Monday, September 14, 2015

CD Review: Oscar Peterson - Exclusively for My friends (8 CD Album).


(Review by Lance).
Imagine meeting up with a former girlfriend - someone you loved very much until,  as these things happen, you drift apart. Fifty years on you meet up again and, amazingly, she's more beautiful than you remembered (don't spoil it Russell by saying 'You should have went to Specsavers'). I know it's most unlikely visually but audio-wise it's happened here! 
Peterson's series of MPS recordings issued back in the 1960's were, for me, the pinnacle of his recording career. The technique, as formidable as ever but with a sensitivity and feeling that seemed to diminish over the years, only returning when a stroke curtailed the Gung Ho approach he'd adapted in his later TV years.
Recorded before a select audience at the home of SABA/MPS record supremo George Brunner-Schwer, Peterson, arguably, played as he'd never played before or since - at least on record.
The recordings took place over a period of years at GBS' villa in the Black Forest in front of a select audience. These sessions have become the stuff of legend. A legend I heartily subscribe to. The track, Waltzing is Hip from album 3 was the first jazz waltz I'd ever heard that really grabbed me and, I think, it may still be my favourite on this beautiful collection.
I bought the original four LP set - Exclusively for My Friends - and, for months on end, I played them incessantly. This, despite there being ne'er a saxophone in sight! Perhaps the culmination of a [musical] love affair that began when I first heard Oscar in 1955 at Newcastle City Hall.
Of course, as time passed, other albums came along and, gradually, like a former lover, became just a fond memory. You know the thing then, years later, you have a few beers, stick it on the dusty turntable and maybe give the ex a phone call on her birthday. Bad decision either way. You find that the styli sticks on your favourite track or a guy answers the phone as you're about to sing Happy Birthday to the love of his life!
Back to the music! This is where I stick my neck out and say that this is the greatest collection of jazz piano music ever recorded by a single artist - certainly, thanks to GBS, his sound was never captured better on disc and it hasn't diminished in the CD format.
Apart from the original four albums, there were two more which I hadn't acquired and a further two albums of Lost Tapes one of which was released many years later and one of unissued tracks including a Peterson vocal, sung in a Nat King Coleish voice - A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening with the vocal group Singers Unlimited. This is indeed a lovely way to spend an evening!
To top it all, there's a 60 page booklet of interviews, background notes and track details.
If you find yourself having to move into smaller promises - like a cardboard box - and find there is only room for 8 CDs this is the one. As regards Reissue CD of the Year all bets are off - now it's down to deciding which of the 8 discs has hit the front - Has there ever been an octuple dead heat?!
Lance.
1) Action: Oscar Peterson (pno); Ray Brown (bs);; Ed Thigpen (dms). 1963/8
2) Girl Talk: Peterson; Brown/Sam Jones (bs); Louis Hayes/Bobby Durham (dms). 1965/8.
3) The Way I Really Play: Peterson; Jones; Durham. Nov. 1967.
4) My Favourite Instrument: Peterson (solo pno). 1968.
5) Mellow Mood: Peterson; Jones; Durham. 1968.
6) Travelin' On: Peterson; Jones; Durham. 1968.
7) The Lost Tapes 1: Peterson; Brown/Sam Jones (bs); Louis Hayes/Bobby Durham (dms). 1965/8
8): The Lost Tapes 2: Peterson; Brown; Thigpen. Milt Jackson (vbs); Hayes for Thigpen on 1 track; Joe Mraz (bs); Hayes (dms) + Singers Unlimited on 1 track. 1963-1971.
Release date Oct. 2, 2015, from all good retailers or Amazon.


No comments :

Blog Archive