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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

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, October 14, 2015

CD Review: Let Spin – Let Go

Chris Williams (alto saxophone), Moss Freed (guitar), Ruth Goller (bass) & Finlay Panter (drums)
(Review by Russell).
Let Spin is a band of busy musicians working in a variety of contexts, in locations across Europe. When they work together as Let Spin they bring compositional ideas to the table formed from their collective performance experiences. Let Go is their second album. All of the material is informed by the input of all four band members.
Bassist Ruth Goller wrote the opening track I Like to Sound Like a Rainforest on the day Charlie Haden died. Goller said: I have never written anything with such a strong flow. It is Goller’s simple folk-like line that begins the piece giving way to her and Panter’s high energy groove, Chris William’s powerful alto playing and guitarist Moss Freed feeding in a succession of considered chords.   
Williams’ Walt’s Waltz hears the composer’s alto writhing, straining against an insistent heavy bass and drums groove with guitarist Freed’s sound lost in the turbulence of it all. Goller’s All Animals are Beautiful affords Freed the opportunity to be heard, riding over Panter’s constantly shifting patterns before Williams’ sinuous alto takes it down and out.
Disa, the first of Berlin-based Panter’s compositions, features searching alto guided by a snare and cymbals foundation. William’s own composition Killing Our Dreams, a down beat affair, ratchets up the tension, finally dissolving into stillness. Moss Freed’s E.V.A. (Extra Vehicular Activity, i.e. a space walk) begins quietly, viewing Planet Earth from a perspective which few humans have ever done. Then, if not in panic, the realisation that something could go wrong (see Ruth Goller’s CD cover art), invigorates the piece.
Beats and Pieces’ Finlay Panter confesses that Rotation, the album’s penultimate track, is a tribute to all the rock that I love; an unusual time signature, the quartet enjoys a rock ‘n’ roll jazz blowout. Freed’s Rothko’s Field has the effect that the title may suggest it should have on the listener – standing in front of a Mark Rothko canvas invites contemplation. A welcome coda to all that has gone before.
Let Go will be released on October 23 on Efpi Records (FR023). Let Spin’s British tour begins the following day at the Vortex, London, continuing to the Jazz Café, Newcastle 27, Edinburgh 28, Glasgow, 29, Lancaster (the Gregson Arts Centre), 30, and Zeffirelli’s, Ambleside, 30, before finishing up at the Fox and Newt, Leeds, on November 1.          
Russell    

1 comment :

Unknown said...

tickets available for the Edinburgh show from http://www.rippingrecords.com/tickets.php?id=4591

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