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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Only Six Standards.
Thu 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Fri 18: Alexia Gardner @ Fika Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 7:00pm. Trio (Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy).RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13

Fri 18: Sarah Jane Morris & Tony Remy: The Sisterhood @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. CANCELLED! 7:30pm (doors). £25.00.

Sat 19: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 19: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

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

Tuesday, October 25, 2016

CD Review: Buselli-Wallarab Jazz Orchestra - Basically Baker.

There was something about the great big bands - they all brought an identifiable sound to the [turn]table. You rarely needed to look at the label to know if it was Dorsey, Goodman, Shaw or Miller. Likewise, Ellington and Basie. Later, Gillespie, Raeburn, Thornhill, Kenton and Herman moved things forward. When touring bands became uneconomical the rehearsal, occasional gig, big bands appeared - both high and low profile. In the former category, the bands of Jones/Lewis and Clarke/Boland spring to mind. Kenny Wheeler and Mike Gibbs and, of course, Wynton's Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.
David Baker absorbed all these influences and shared them over many years in Downbeat articles and analyses of various aspects of jazz.
Perhaps the first great jazz educator.
The Buselli-Wallarab Orchestra take the man's music to the top level and Baker, who died on March 26 this year, would surely be proud of this double CD, the second album, devoted to his compositions. The one non-Baker piece is Dizzy's Bebop but it isn't really an exception as the request was by Dizzy himself to put his (Baker's) own stamp on it!
Randy Brecker, Wayne Wallace and Dave Stryker have featured tracks but the bulk is done by the band soloists and they hit paydirt every time! I'm going to be playing this one long after the other discs in the In Tray have had their, mandatory, one play before becoming a coffee table placemat (must buy a bigger coffee table). 
I doubt if there will be a better big band CD [double] this year or any year until they make Basically Baker Vol 3. If you only ever buy one post-Swing Era big band record - check this one out first!
Lance.
Tony Kadleck, Scott Belck, Graham Breedlove, Jeff Conrad, Mark Buselli, Pat Harbison (tpt); Tim Coffman, Freddie Mendoza, Brennan Johns (tbn); Rich Dole (bs. tmb); Tom Walsh, Bill Sears, Rich Perry, Rob Dixon, Ned Boyd (saxes); Celeste Holler-Seraphinoff (horn); Luke Gillespie (pno); Mitch Shiner (vibs); Monika Herzig (celeste); Dan Perantoni (tuba); Jeremy Allen ( bs); Steve Houghton (dms). + Randy Brecker (tpt);  David Stryker (gtr); Wayne Wallace (tmb). 

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