Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

Fri 08: Alan Law Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Law, Mick Shoulder, John Bradford.
Fri 08: Giles Strong & Richard Herdman @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Guitar duo.
Fri 08: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 08: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 6:00pm . Free. A Late Shows event.
Fri 08: Nigel Kennedy @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Line-up inc. Alec Dankworth.
Fri 08: Salty Dog @ Station East, Hills Street, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 09: The Vieux Carré Hot 4 'Festival of Blossom' @ Seaton Delaval Hall National Trust. 12:30 - 3.00pm. Free event (admission applies).
Sat 09: SH#RP Collective w. Lindsay Hannon @ Church of Holy Name, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00 (inc. a welcome drink). Advance booking essential. Bring own snacks, drinks to be purchased at ‘donations’ bar. All proceeds to charity. A Jesmond Community Festival event.
Sat 09: East Coast Swing Band @ Jubilee Hall, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £10.00.

Sun 10: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 12 noon. Free. Note earlier start.
Sun 10: 58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00-3:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 10: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 10: The Chet Set @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00.
Sun 10: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.

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: Jacob Egglestone @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Egglestone (guitar); Jamie Watkins (bass); Jack Littlewood (drums) & guests.

Wednesday, August 10, 2016

CD Review: Scott Morgan - Songs of Life

Scott Morgan (vcl); Fred Hersch (pno); Matt Aronoff (bs); Ross Pederson (dms) + Joel Frahm (ten); Janis Siegel (vcl).
(Review by Lance).
In a world, seemingly, populated by Divas it's quite refreshing to have a male entry on the starting line - does that make him a Giva? Not sure as the word probably doesn't exist!
Whatever, of late there hasn't been that many out and out male jazz singers. Lots of Sinatra clones, plenty blues guys, but few who move in the area that was once the property of Tormé, Murphy, Hendricks, Lambert and co.

Scott Morgan isn't quite that man although he makes a damn good fist of it!
It's You Or No One swings nicely with some vocalese (on a Chet Baker solo) reminiscent of Jon Hendricks - maybe James Moody too. Hersch, Morgan's partner on and off stage, plays the kind of swinging piano we associate with him.
Little Prayer, a tune by AIDS victim Dave Catney, segues into Wouldn't it be Loverly whilst Song of Life has some good blowing from Frahm - I wanted more Frahm Joel and got it later.
Hersch's Lazin' Around could have been written by Carmichael or Mercer - that's how good it is!
It's fantastic when you discover a GASbook song you've missed. I Just Found About Love by Jimmy McHugh and Harold Adamson is just such a tune. Chances are I have heard it before but maybe never as good as this - Frahm blows his top on this one too!
There's more: James Taylor provides Secret O'Life and Don't Let me be Lonely Tonight. The Bergmans' kick in with Like a Lover; Duke gives us Just a Lucky So and So and Frahm once more chips in; Kurt Weill is Lost in the Stars; a Morgan/Hersch composition - I'll Follow - has ex Man Tran's Janis Seigel adding her vocal chords - Janis returns on The Beatles I Will. 
This Heart of Mine - from an old Astaire movie benefits from the swingier tempo.
So, why haven't we heard of Scott Morgan until now?
We don't live in NYC.
It's a fine record of original interpretations of the familiar and an individual take on the unexpected.
Well worth checking out.
Lance.
Available  on Miranda Music  Sept. 12
at

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