Bebop Spoken There

Art Blakey (to Terence Blanchard): ''You ain't Miles find your own shit to do!'' (DownBeat May, 2026)

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

18504 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 368 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 7 ) 22

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

From This Moment On

May

Mon 11: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 12: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 13: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 13: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 13: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 13: Hey Remember This @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 14: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Philip Larkin’s Jazz Experiment.
Thu 14: Jerron Paxton @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb country blues.
Thu 14: Solcade @ the Bridge Hotel, Newcastle. 7:00pm. EP launch. Rivkala & co..
Thu 14: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.
Thu 14: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 14: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 15: Conor Emery Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Line-up Emery (trombone); Alix Shepherd (piano); John Pope (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). SOLD OUT!
Fri 15: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 15: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 15: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 adv., £15.00 on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 15: Puppini Sisters @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. CANCELLED!

Sat 16: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. God Bless the Child - Lady Day!. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 16: Kaberry Big Band @ the Seahorse Pub, Hillheads Rd., Whitley Bay NE23 8HR. From 7:30pm. £15.00
Sat 16: Lady Nade @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. ‘Lady Nade sings Nina Simone’.

Sun 17: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ Forum Theatre, Billingham. 7:30pm.
Sun 17: QOW Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Spike Wells, Riley Stone-Lonergan & Eddie Myer.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

CD Review: Anthony E. Nelson - Swift to Hear, Slow to Speak.


Anthony E. Nelson (ten/sop); Josh Edwards (tpt); Bruce Williams (alt); Brandon McCune (pno); Kenny Davis (bs); Chris Beck (dms).
(Review by Lance).
This album placed me in the horns of a dilemma. I'm not a devout Christian, nor am I an out and out atheist which I guess makes me an agnostic - the guy who sits on the fence watching the other religious factions kill each other.
However, this site is renowned for its determination to avoid controversy on matters relating to religion, politics or the price of fish so, after glancing at the blurb, I listened to it before reading the full S.P.
It's one of the finest albums I've heard this year. A lovely Blue Note feel to it. Maybe Blue Note meets Contemporary somewhere in the 'Bible Belt'.
Nelson is a devout Christian and it would be churlish of me to decry his beliefs. Indeed, this could be the road to Damascus for many sceptics. Such is the relaxed swing of his playing that it makes me think I should have been reading Matthew 16:13-19 instead of Otto Langey's The Saxophone after I'd rescued an old, unplayable alto from a junk shop in North Shields! Unlike Coltrane's A Love Supreme, this isn't a fire and brimstone sermon but rather a loving gospel to music and jazz in particular.
There's no other word for it - Divine"

3 comments :

Vegan Potamus said...

Hi Lance, your reviews are gold in my newsfeed. The link you have for sample/purchase this CD has a period at the end which kills the link. Also, CD Baby lists this as a CD-RP. A CDR? Not sure, so I emailed them for clarification.

Lance said...

Link to Amazon working - MP3 in stock. I have an actual CD so they must be available.

Holly Cooper said...

Thank you, Lance, fantastic review!! For Vegan Potamus, it's available on several digital sites and here at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Swift-Hear-Speak-Anthony-Nelson/dp/B01GKFZIZ0. I love this CD and I'm not religious either ;>)

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