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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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 09: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session now monthly, next one Thursday 2nd Feb, then first Thursday in the month thereafter.

Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.

Sat 11: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 11: Under the Wellie @ 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

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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