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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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

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.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

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

Friday, August 05, 2016

CD Review: Daniela Schächter - Jimmy Van Heusen

Daniela Schächter (pno/vcl); Mike Tucker (ten); Michael O'Brien (bs); Mark Walker (dms).
(Review by Lance).
What's not to like? The songs of Jimmy Van Heusen plus a classy singer who plays fine piano, a Getzian tenor sax and a sympathetic rhythm section.
Van Heusen was a favourite songwriter of both Bing and Frank and, Sicilian-born, New Jersey - based, Schächter does the material proud and she plays piano better than either Bing or Frank!
Think Diane Krall and you're getting close inasmuch as they're in the same ballpark although, over 12 tracks I think it would be declared a draw. However, if I had the deciding vote...
Schächter is yet another diva diving into a not too deep pool that is rapidly becoming so crowded that there is barely room to do the breast stroke - or maybe that's the only stroke possible!
Still, if the pool needs to be drained of Divas then Daniela won't be the first to go - arguably she could be the last! 
With her vocal, piano AND composing talent (track 6 Vanheusenism - a loving tribute to the late Jimmy incorporating so many of the great man's elements) Daniela should be on everybody's list - not least those who also appreciate the kind of tenor playing associated with Stan, Zoot, Kamuca and the other Brothers - over the years there were more than four!
Polka Dots and Moonbeams is given a boppy vocalese treatment making me wonder if she's working on some horn man's solo. Maybe she is because Tucker has a blast of his own that says 'anything you can do I can do better'! Maybe, maybe not - another split decision!
Another masterpiece is, It Could Happen to You - it happened to me from the first few bars!
Call me Irresponsible - voice and bass - I know a couple who could also do justice to this one.
But Beautiful is beautiful but not in the traditional cheesy way - this one swings and, again, tenor man Tucker is in there booting it along.
Then just as you thought it was safe to get back into the water, Daniela hits us with I Thought About You. Vocal, piano and, even without the gutsy tenor, this is the one!
Gershwin, Porter, Kern. Berlin, Rodgers & Hart (maybe Hammerstein) - why isn't Van Heusen on this list (and, of course, Johnny Mercer)?
Tracks: Here's That Rainy Day; Darn that Dream; Come Fly With me; Like Someone in Love/Imagination; The Second Time Around; Vanheusenism; All the Way; Polka Dots and Moonbeams; It Could Happen to You; Call me Irresponsible; But Beautiful; I Thought About You.
Lance.
Release date September 9.

1 comment :

LIz said...

all my faves there!

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