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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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Fri 17: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Joe Steels Trio w. Graham Hardy @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. (inc. a welcome drink & table reservation). Book at: www.drinks@thepele.co.uk. A ‘Jazz at the Pele’ promotion.
Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

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

Saturday, July 16, 2016

CD Review: Sound Underground - Quiet Spaces

Alec Aldred (tpt/flug); David Leon (alt); James Udall (gtr).
(Review by Lance).
This is what the blurb says:
On Quiet Spaces, Sound Underground pauses to look closer at the world around us, revealing the intricate beauty of details that pass by unnoticed. The trio turns these moments inside out, leaping through a wide range of textures and sounds on a journey full of surprises.
True to Wayne Shorter’s mantra, a spirit of curiosity permeates Quiet Spaces. From beginning to end, the trio leaves no stone unturned. They question the tuneful themes of the opening “Tiny Kingdom” and the title track “Quiet Spaces,” reshaping them through wide emotional landscapes. On “Awake with a Start”, they examine the moment of being startled and discover its multitude of hues in Leon’s playful solo. Indeed, the three seem to find inspiration in the most unexpected of places. This is most apparent in the two-part “$2.43 Regular Unleaded,” which takes the hocketing beeps from a car door and a gas pump on a dizzying, mechanistic joy-ride.
An unmistakable characteristic of Sound Underground’s music is the way they weave improvisation and composition together into a single musical fabric, spinning stories that have both careful craft and captivating immediacy. In “Trio Tune for Tal” the melody threads dissonance through triadic harmony, which Udall continues without dropping a stitch in his solo finger-picking odyssey. The attitude-laden jabs on “Me vs Me, “reminiscent of Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry, morph seamlessly into a repentant trumpet cadenza. The three are remarkably compositional improvisers – evidenced no clearer than in Udall and Aldred’s deft counterpoint on “Strange Distance,” and Leon’s solo on “Wanderer’s Rondo” that seems to defy gravity. Several distant tours have given Sound Underground the experience to craft a thoughtful approach to their compositions, as well as the broad perspective to allow plenty of risk – fuelling their perpetual evolution.
Recorded live and without isolation, Quiet Spaces creates a unique acoustic space that highlights the intimate personality of the music. This approach draws attention to the kinaesthetic sounds of their playing – breath, key clicks, valve clicks, and fingers moving on guitar strings – bringing the listener into the room with them. On a few occasions they exploit the studio setting to create sonic spaces that are only possible here – the throbbing “A Moment Fixed in Amber” and the ambient dream-state at the end of “Now I Know.”
From the ringing calls of “Tiny Kingdom” to the noble serenity of “A Postcard, “Quiet Spaces promises wonder at every turn.
This is what I say:
"Couldn't have put it better myself".
Lance.
Sound Underground - Quiet Spaces available September 15 on Tiny Music.

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