Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

June

Mon 29: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 30: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 30: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

July

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest TBC.
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

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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