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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.

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!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
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: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

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

Monday, November 07, 2016

CD Review: Keith Jarrett – A Multitude of Angels

Keith Jarrett – Piano
(Review by Hugh C).
This neatly packaged 4CD set was recorded at solo concert performances by Keith Jarrett at Modena, Ferrara, Torino and Genova in October 1996.  These represent the last four concerts he played having no breaks in each set.  The four CDs are presented in individual slip cases with the titles and timings printed on the back.  A set of notes written by Jarrett himself are included, together with a full discography.
Jarrett regards his playing at these concerts as a pinnacle of his career.  After these concerts were over he couldn't play again for two years due to (what is now known as) chronic fatigue syndrome.  The title of the set – A Multitude of Angels – is a reference to the people, circumstances, equipment and events that contributed to Jarrett's ability to play through these concerts and record them flawlessly (Jarrett acted as both player and engineer, recording on his personal DAT recorder at the back of the stage) despite his illness.

Jarrett revisited these recordings after 20 years and was taken back to “the memory of who I was in 1966, what my thoughts were about, what galvanised my life into a struggle for exactly the consciousness that we can so easily lose”.  As he listened he felt the angels took their places beside him and urged him gently to go on – A Multitude of Angels is the result.
The four discs are:
MODENA
October 23, 1996
Part I – Part II – Danny Boy
FERRARA
October 25, 1996
Part I – Part II – Encore
TORINO
October 28, 1996
Part I – Part II
GENOVA
October 30, 1996
Part I – Part II - Encore – Over The Rainbow

Each Part represents a continuous set of between 30 and 43 minutes.  This is vintage Jarrett - driving rhythm interspersed by more extended reflective improvisation, both with full vocals (grunts, sighs, exclamations and scat piano) and percussive foot tapping. 
Each disc is exquisitely recorded (full technical details of the strategy and equipment used are in Jarrett's comprehensive sleeve notes) and a beautiful record of the event - not one single audience cough did I hear on any of these CDs, and no clapping over the dying embers of the final piano chord.  This set is likely to appeal to the enthusiast.  I'm not sure your general jazz head would sit through more than 4 hours of solo piano.  This is undoubtedly a classic, but perhaps with a limited market.
Hugh C.

A Multitude of Angels is currently available on ECM, catalogue No. ECM2503

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