Bebop Spoken There

John Donegan: ''What you take in through your ears can come out through your fingers.'' (Notes to Which Direction October, 2026)

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

19,041 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 905 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 26) 84.

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

From This Moment On

October.

Tue 27: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest Julija Jacenaite.
Tue 27: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 29: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 29: Radio Pensacola Band @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Featuring guest Jan Spencelayh.
Thu 29: Simon Taylor Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. £8.00.
Thu 29: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

CD Review: Tiffany Austin - Nothing But Soul

Tiffany Austin (vcl); Howard Wiley (ten/vcl); Glen Pearson (pno); Ron Belcher (bs); Sly Randolph (dms).
(Review by Lance.)
There are some tunes that make you cringe upon hearing. Not that there's anything wrong with the songs. Summertime is one of the greatest songs ever written but my well documented aversion to the song is not directed at George Gershwin but at the thousands of wannabees  who wouldn't dream of stepping on stage without the feeling that, if  Cry Me a River doesn't get them, then Summertime will!
Familiarity, contempt etc.
Stardust (like the pale moon) is another that no longer excites me, as with Summertime, the definitive versions have been set in stone, or rather vinyl. 
Or so I thought!
Enter Tiffany Austin.
On this, her debut album, she has given a completely new take to Hoagy's classic song. Even the verse is given a new, rhythmic, lease of life. And this is but track one! What follows are more Carmichael gems. Songs either composed by the great man or associated with him. I'm not quite sure how Johnny Cash's I Walk The Line fits in (seemingly Hoagy  cut a 45rpm in '56), but they are all belters with a band that rocks and rolls and swings like the proverbial! Wiley in particular blows up a storm.
This is a difficult disc to review - I mean how can you type when you're dancing around the room?!
Ah, Georgia on my Mind cools things and allows me to to jump down from the ceiling and get back to the keyboard.
Baltimore Oriole; I Get Along Without You Very Well; I May Be Wrong (sung by Hoagy but not one of his comps); Skylark; Sing me a Swing Song are some of the others.
Tiffany Austin is the most exciting singer I've heard since first hearing Cecile McLorin Salvant  at Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party/Festival although, up here in Newcastle, Alice Grace isn't far behind.
There may be better vocal discs this year but there won't be many and certainly not a better first timer!
YouTube.
Released October 16. Con Alma Music CAM 001.
Lance
at

No comments :

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive