Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 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

18918 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 782 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 18.) 61.

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

September.

Thu 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 24: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 24: Arun Ghosh @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £21.05. (£22.00. on the door). A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Thu 24: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00.

Fri 25: Mark Williams Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00.
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: Get the Blessing + Dilettante @ The Cluny (Cluny 2), Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £18.00. + bf. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 25: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 26: Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter: Play Mary Lou Williams @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 26: John Pope Quintet + Urvashi @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.40. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Sun 27: Salty Dog @ The Cluny. 12:30pm (doors). Free (donations).
Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Zach Sewell-Lara Hopper Quintet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 27: Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED to Sunday 4 October.
Sun 27: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Alex Hitchcock Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Mon 28: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ Hepscott Parish Hall. 7:30pm. . £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Tue 29: Red Kites Jazz @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ The Hearth, Horsley. 7:30pm. £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Wed 30: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 30: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds + Juliana Day & Manon McCoy + Helen Anahita Wilson @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. A BBC Introducing-Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

CD Review: Nigel Price Organ Trio - Heads and Tales Vol 2

Nigel Price (gtr); Ross Stanley (Hammond); Matt Home (dms) + Alex Garnett (alt/ten); Vasilis Xenopoulos (ten).
(Review by Lance).
Heads & Tales, an appropriately named double CD. Heads you win, Tales you still win! The trio is two-thirds of the trio that rocked the Jazz Café last month (Steve Brown stood in for Matt Home). To make it even more attractive we have the added presence of Vasilis Xenopoulos and Alex Garnett, either together or individually, on 7 of the 9 tracks on disc one.  Xenopoulos is a regular visitor to the area (as recently as last weekend) and Garnett played the Gala in Durham in May.
The Tales half is predominantly Price soloing or duetting with himself on familiar themes: Cherokee; Have You Met Miss Jones; Jeannine; Peace; Come Rain or Come Shine; Minority; Fragments of Blues; Slow Boat to China; Midnight Blue and, as a bonus, Joe Pass' composition Fragments of Blues was videoed during the recording although I have yet to view it.
Guitar playing at the ultimate level!
The Heads disc is an interesting concept. They are all "originals" by Price based on the themes he plays on the other disc. The titles are almost as clever as the tunes!
Blue Genes works around the changes of Jeannine (Genes, Jeans - get it?) Vasy is in on this one and he doesn't disappoint - does he ever? Nor does Nigel before Ross and Matt gangbang Jeannine.
Wet and Dry (Come Rain or Come Shine - don't worry the titles get worse/better!) brings Alex into the fray on alto whilst Vasy doesn't need an umbrella and nor does Nigel who picked up the melody line from a 1976 Ed Birkert solo!
Up and Out, a 3/4 blues with a bridge is related to some dialogue from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Matt Holm is given space.
Jimmy Raney's Parker 51 is based on Cherokee and giving Cherokee to Vasy is like giving him the freedom of Athens (if he doesn't already have it!)
War is rooted in Horace Silver's Peace and, whilst the tranquility of peace is depicted, so is the sombreness of war. Price, Stanley and Home convey the emotions the titles evoke with Garnett's tenor sax blending in perfectly (we want to hear you up north again man).
R & R has nothing to do with Rock & Roll but relates to Rita and Rigsby - Remember Rising Damp? Not surprisingly, it's based on Have You Met Miss Jones? Alex stays on board and Ross and Nigel suggest that they are well acquainted with Miss Jones!
Majority, based on Gigi Gryce's Minority brings the two horns back and it's up to the listener to say who got the majority!
Junk = Slow Boat to China. Garnett blows tenor on this one.
Smokescape is a take on Kenny Burrell's Midnight Blue and has Ross stretching out in after hours mode.
This is just about as good as it gets whether you're into guitar, organ, sax, drums or simply great jazz.
Must get out my Roget's Thesaurus and turn to the superlatives section - I'm running out of them!
Available on Whirlwind Recordings - WR4695 (November 11).
Lance,
NB: I reviewed this somewhat prematurely in September after the session at the Jazz Café. I've updated it so it appears nearer the official release date.
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