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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, September 28, 2016

CD Review: Julphan Tilapornputt - Regards to You

Julphan Tilapornputt (guitar), Joe Wagner (tenor sax). Jeong Hwan Park (bass), Ken Ychicawa (drums).
(Review by Steve T)
As a local guitar teacher said to me recently, everybody's a virtuoso nowadays. Julphan is one such guitarist. Originally from Thailand and now resident in New York, he's had an impressive education including a scholarship at Berklee.
However, any new guitarist who wants to make a difference within the Wes Metheny legacy needs to be a writer comparable with Stravinsky, Cole Porter, Duke or Curtis Mayfield.
The alternative is perhaps even more difficult, to create something entirely new when it appears that every possible permeation has been tried.

Within capitalism, innovation, genuine or assumed, is always attributed to genius, genuine (insomuch as such a thing exists) or assumed, but Bird and Zappa were part of movements, although Zappa ultimately blew the entire competition put together, and Bird was certainly a figurehead and, solely in terms of bebop, maybe did the same.  
Most artists make their creative contribution as part of a movement, chipping away at the status quo. Julphan is one such guitarist. It's a guitar and sax pairing at the front and a piano-less quartet, both formats at the forefront of much contemporary Jazz, though with the guitar you get the best of both worlds.
But what I love about this album is the variety of sounds he achieves with his guitar(s). The album opens and closes with acoustic guitar and the album pictures him playing acoustic, and there's also much of the semi-acoustic sound we've grown accustomed to through countless albums by Wes and Metheny and their followers.
In between he produces sounds which are difficult for these untrained (and now unassisted) ears to pin down. It's more acoustic than Wes but more electric than Earl Klugh, to the point where I don't actually know what he's playing. One idea is that it's a semi-acoustic through an acoustic amp, which a rockabilly guitarist once told me is 'wrong', a word that's always a red rag.   
Wherever it comes from, it brings a freshness to this album lacking in a lot of the many guitar albums that land on Lance’s mat before they get to me whenever we find ourselves at the same venue.
It's Tilapornputt’s second album and it’s already available and well worth a listen, and not just for guitarists.

Steve T.

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