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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, April 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

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, June 22, 2016

CD Review: Miroslav Vitous – Music of Weather Report

Miroslav Vitous – double bass, keyboards; Gary Campbell, Roberto Bonisolo – soprano and tenor saxophones; Aydin Esen – keyboards; Gerald Cleaver, Nasheet Waits – drums.
(Review by Hugh C).
Miroslav Vitous, with Joe Zawinul and Wayne Shorter, was one of the co-founders of Weather Report in the early 1970s.  In Music of Weather Report he revisits some of their repertoire.  Scarlet Woman Variations is a great introduction and recognisably derived from Johnson, Shorter and Zawinul's original, but with some interesting takes on this signature melody.  Vitous then turns his attention one of his own compositions, Seventh Arrow.  This has a “free” feel with the two drummers, both independently minded, often apparently at odds with each other, but at the same time palpably interacting. 
One and one half minutes of Multidimension Blues 2 follows, this being one of three such pieces dotted through the CD.  Birdland Variations offers fleeting glimpses of Zawinul's original, whilst at the same time being almost a new composition.  Vitous often plays arco on this track complementing Gary Campbell and Roberto Bonisolo on saxophones as a virtual third horn.  Multidimension Blues 1 now turns up.  Pinocchio by Wayne Shorter, originally appeared on a Miles Davis album in 1967, reappearing on Weather Report's Mr Gone in 1978.  This is another interesting take on this oft-played tune with reharmonisation by keyboardist Aydin Esen.  Acrobat Issues and Scarlet Reflections, both compositions by Vitous, precede Multidimensional Blues 3.  The CD finishes with Morning Lake, another Vitous composition for the original band and (along with Seventh Arrow) on their debut CD.  A recording of a real thunderstorm in real time (it was meant to be, according to Vitous) forms part of this final track.
This CD is a bit like the British weather:  periods of dull grey skies with the occasional sunny interval and unexpected showers.  One really doesn't know what to put on!  I must admit that, with the exception of  Birdland and Scarlet Woman, the original versions were unfamiliar to me.  I did hear snippets of melody that I recognised in some of the other tracks.  There is certainly the spirit of Weather Report throughout, whether (no pun intended) there is enough to persuade lovers of the original band to buy this is open to question.  It is certainly an interesting take on their music and artistically of a very high standard (not unexpected given the calibre of the musicians involved).  Would I buy it for myself – probably not.  Would I recommend it to others?  If you have money to spare and are interested in a quirky and inventive take on the music of Weather Report – yes.
Hugh C
Music of Weather Report is now out on ECM – Catalogue Number: 377 2956

1 comment :

Steven T. said...

It will go in to my basket and hopefully at some point I'' buy it. I love Weather Report and all her bass players and I think all of his albums for ECM are amongst the best I've ever heard from the label.

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