Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Fri 09: The House Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 09: Nauta @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Trio: Jacob Egglestone, Jamie Watkins, Bailey Rudd.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Warren James & the Lonesome Travellers @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 09: The Blue Kings @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £10.00. (£8.00. adv.). All-star band.

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

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, September 16, 2015

CD Review: Tipping Point – The Earthworm’s Eye View

James Mainwaring (tenor & soprano saxophones, effects), Matthew Bourne (Fender Rhodes), Michael Bardon (double bass) & Joost Hendrickx (drums)
(Review by Russell).
Tipping Point is James Mainwaring’s new project. Roller Trio’s reeds man is joined by fellow Leeds College of Music graduates Mick Bardon and Joost Hendrickx and one of their tutors, pianist Matthew Bourne. The CD is the second to be released on Lamplight Social Records, the label set up by saxophonist Mainwaring.
Ten tracks – five of them improvisations – composed by Mainwaring, The Earthworm’s Eye View is a departure from the riotous abandon of  one-time Mercury Prize contenders Roller Trio. The presence of Bourne playing Fender Rhodes is surely a significant factor in the playful group improvisations. Rat Bucket, an improvised piece constructed upon a three bar riff and twelve bar melody gets to the heart of the music. Quiet, organic improv, Mainwaring’s tenor lines working off  Bourne’s dense, shifting Fender Rhodes.
Bigsaw Jigsaw veers from the improvised to the notated, flitting from one to the other in a split second, back and forth, piecing together the composition at breakneck pace. Mick Bardon’s low-in-the-mix bass playing rumbles assuredly throughout the album and Joost Hendrickx’s drumming is in-the-pocket, variously encouraging and responding to effects thrown into the mix. ‘Effects’ or ‘FX’ can be seen – and heard – as one of Mainwaring’s instruments on The Earthworm’s View. The eponymous track successfully incorporates a tenor/FX sound with Fender Rhodes and the bristling energy of Bardon and Hendrickx.
Russell.
The Earthworm’s View on Lamplight Social Records (LRSCD00 2) is released on October 9.
Russell.         

1 comment :

Russell said...

Tipping Point play a jazz North East gig at the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle on Sunday 8th November in a double bill with the Long Lonesome Go.

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