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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Tuesday, December 01, 2015

CD Review: Paul Edis – Just Like Me/Not Like Me

Paul Edis (piano)
(Review by Russell)
Paul Edis’ new CD is a two-disc recording of compositions for solo piano. Recorded at the Literary and Philosophical Society, Newcastle on 22nd July 2013 and 5th June 2015 on the Edis Music label the release documents the pianist’s exploration of the art of solo improvisation. The gatefold CD design invites the listener to choose the first disc (to the left hand side) Just Like Me. This is the most recent recording and there is the temptation to listen to the other, earlier disc, first.
Temptation resisted, Just Like Me was first into the CD player. Twelve tracks (eight Edis’ compositions, four others variously ‘jazz standard’ and ‘traditional’) of considered piano playing illustrate the pianist’s innate sensitivities to compositional structure, the physical relationship with the keyboard and that most elusive quality…taste. Classical training has afforded Edis a command of his chosen instrument and the opening two tracks – Montage and Murmuration – suggest classicism is ever present in his thought processes.
Jazz improvisation is upper most on tracks such as the eponymous Just Like Me and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. A reworking of Greensleeves and the commissioned composition For Kathleen are masterful performances, as is Percy Grainger’s Country Gardens.
The second disc – Not Like Me – was first made available as a download. This double CD release makes it an essential purchase for the audiophile. Twelve tracks (nine Edis’ tunes, two instantly recognisable popular music tunes and a jazz standard), recorded almost two years before the first disc, are of the same high quality. Pulse opens the disc and there is a clearly delineated pulse running throughout the piece. Indeed, a rhythmic pulse or flow is discernable across several tracks, notably My Favourite Things (track nine). Vignette has an interesting effect on the listener…Who’s that by? The realisation that it is by Paul Edis is disconcerting because it is so familiar! The opening notes of Bring Me Sunshine raise a smile every time. Edis takes the tune for a walk, laughing all the way. Dudley Moore and others would have approved. Sunrise closes the recording (Sunset closes the first CD).
The CD was recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered by Adam Sinclair and produced by Adam Sinclair and Paul Edis. Cover design by Kate Edis.
Just Like Me/Not Like Me by Paul Edis is available on Edis Music.
Just Like Me/Not Like Me is a five star recording. CD of the Year.
Russell.                        

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