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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Sunday, October 30, 2016

CD Review: Ben Lee Quintet - In the Tree

Ben Lee (guitars), Chris Young (alto), Richard Foote (trombone), David Ferris (organ), Euan Palmer (drums).
(Review by Steve T)
'Ben studied jazz guitar at Birmingham Conservatoire'. Since he and number one son are now acquainted I should be careful what I say. It's the best album in the world ever.
But seriously, there's an awful lot about this band and this album that I like: guitar, sax, trombone, sax and trombone, Hammond (almost), no piano, no bass - sorry guys.
He's also a fine composer, comparable with anybody around, and a good few years younger than most.
As a guitarist he cites Wes and Schofield as influences and I'd like to add Mike Walker, whether Ben realises it or not, who seems to be impacting on all the young guitarists in this country at the moment.
Away from Jazz, we're told he likes Radiohead and Nirvana, the latter with a track named after them on which he unleashes far more firepower than I've ever heard from Cobain
Further resonances I hear, which he may or may not be aware of, are prog rock, and more firmly within the genre than Radiohead, and seventies fusion, including specifically the funk end of things, and if he and/or trombonist Richard Foote haven't listened to the Crusaders with Wayne Henderson and Fred Wesley’s JBs, they should.
I almost hate to mention the Zee word (yet) again but I seem to hear him everywhere in contemporary Jazz. He asked the question 'does humour belong in music' and answered it in the affirmative, rather too often some might say. I agree and as an old, pre-teenage prog rocker, Genesis and Jethro Tull were also very effective at incorporating humour into their respective musical oeuvres.
Ben introduces some jocularity on the title track with some whistling before it develops into something close to ragtime, which illustrates his flair for melody but, at track two I found it premature.
There's also some joviality on track eight, Kickin' the Chicken and the album closes with some flippancy on Skateboarding on my Own, featuring spoken word, presumably from the man himself.
I hate to mention the Bea word (yet) again but, within mass culture this trend is attributed to Yellow Submarine. As an atheist who thinks the Bea word are more over-rated than Jesus, Yellow Submarine is the second best track on Revolver, and the best track is the only 'serious' record they ever made, I found three light-hearted stabs at humour on a debut album, brave.
Despite this minor reservation, it's a fine album with lots to appeal to guitarists, jazz fans and anyone with an interest in the rich tapestry of contemporary British Jazz. 
Moreover, everybody should buy every album by every guitarist who comes out of Birmingham Conservatoire.
This one's been out a week on Brummy's own Stoney Lane Records and the band are on a limited tour until mid-January.
Steve T.

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