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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

17,533 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 497 of them this year alone and, so far, 75 this month (June 23).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Bal Bruch Social Dance @ As You Like It, Sandyford, Newcastle. 12:30pm. Free. Dance event with Hot Club de Heaton performing live (2:00-3:00pm). A ‘Jar on the Bar’ event.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

JULY 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. 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, October 12, 2015

CD Review: Colin Towns’ Mask Orchestra – Drama

(Review by Russell)
The Mask Orchestra’s new album, the seventh release in its quarter century existence, is a sprawling work across two discs drawing inspiration from the world of theatre. The CD is Colin Towns’ response, and contribution to, major British theatre productions. Drama – a succinct title – is realised by a wonderful array of British jazz talent. Veteran, established and emerging names are to be found in all sections of the band which must make life a lot easier for the bandleader as he writes material knowing that he can call upon some of the finest musicians available to him.      
Colin Towns stated it was important that the musicians knew the synopsis of each play so they would have an understanding of the composer’s inspirations and intentions. Meeting theatre director Terry Hands opened doors for Towns; visiting theatres, discovering many texts and ultimately collaborating with directors.
Drama opens with classic works; Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare’s Macbeth. The compositions feature a raft of soloists, the latter hears Julian Siegel’s baritone motif with a firing trumpet section behind him. Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead has a demonic sense of fun about it (Andrew McCormack, piano), Equus a Modernist filmic/theatrical quality. Arrangements throughout are never too far from suggesting a sense of urgency. Hysteria (Terry Johnson, playwright) closes the first CD with a three way tenor exchange between Tim Garland, Nigel Hitchcock and Julian Siegel.
Two of Peter Shaffer’s plays make it onto the recording, Equus, on disc one, and on disc two The Royal Hunt of the Sun. The music for the latter takes as its starting point the Art Sphere Theatre, Tokyo production (Terry Hands, director, 1994). Percussionists Stephan Maass and Joji Hirota duel (opening and closing the composition), Gateshead born Chris Montague, a singular emerging guitar talent, suggests an Americana feel, and Peter King has a blast on soprano giving way to the orchestra’s tumbling momentous finale.
Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest would suggest all things American and it doesn’t disappoint. Barnaby Dickinson (or is it Jack Nicholson?) plays crazy trombone as Peter King switches to alto, Montague finds a disturbing chord or three and the ensemble
retains a collective sanity amidst institutional bells, alarms and on-street sirens. Michael Frayn’s Copenhagen (Emma Lucia, director, Clwyd Theatr Cymru, 2013) doesn’t allow a slackening of the pace with more superb, frantic ensemble work featuring the trumpets of Rory Simmons, George Hogg and Graham Russell. Jane Eyre offers some respite; Simon Allen’s soprano solo a calming influence.
Arthur Miller’s The Crucible (Terry Hands, director, 2003) comes in at nineteen minutes and forty nine seconds. The composition features so many soloists it is easier to indicate that almost all step up; a proud brass band emerges expertly combining the sounds of the British colliery band and a French Quarter marching band. Veteran Alan Skidmore, tenor, leads the way for the reeds, a contemporary big band at its best.
Colin Towns’ Mask Orchestra has three concert dates this week: Thursday 15 Manchester at the Royal Northern College of Music, Friday 16 Southampton, Turner Sims Hall and at LSO St Luke’s, London, Saturday 17. Colin Towns’ Mask Orchestra Drama is out now on Provocateur Records PVC1044.       
Russell.          
George Hogg, Graham Russell, Henry Lowther, Rory Simmons (Trumpet/flugelhorn)Barnaby Dickinson, Tom White, Harry Brown, Roger Williams (trombone); Peter King, Simon Allen (alto/soprano); Tim Garland, Alan Skidmore, Nigel Hitchcock (tenor/soprano); Julian Siegel (baritone/tenor/soprano/bass clarinet/clarinet/flute); Stephan Maass (percussion/electronic percussion); Andrew McCormack (piano); Arnd Geise (bass); Chris Montague (guitar); Ralph Salmins (drums);  Colin Towns (keys); Joji Hirota (percussion).    

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