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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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

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.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

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, January 31, 2017

CD Review: Josh Green & The Cyborg Orchestra - Telepathy & Bop

 (Review by Dave Brownlow)
An attempt by Josh Green and his Cyborg Orchestra to blend together modern jazz with contemporary classical music using surreal visual art and cinematic and television images as inspirations in a quirky, humorous style. Green has assembled a band comprising 3 reeds, 2 brass, 2 strings, accordion, guitar, piano, bass, and drums together with a conventional classical String Quartet and uses the instrumentation in an unconventional way in a striking and very different, off-centre sound. He’s studied jazz, classical music and composed film soundtracks and music for award-winning TV shows. The reviewer Ted Nash writes “Josh Green’s music is full of surprises and left me smiling. It is evocative and playful and certainly does not ‘fit in a box’. Mr Green has found a truly original voice.”
I can only agree……!
Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump has an ascending/descending chord sequence based on semi-tones and is like a suite in three sections: first an opening theme in lively rhumba tempo, second more sedate with strings to the fore, third featuring a wild ‘outside’ guitar solo and general chaos followed by a lengthy flute solo, more chaos and an abrupt ending. At times, the whole thing sounds like a circus band – no insult intended….The Lauer Faceplant: Based on a True Story plays like a clumsy spy-movie soundtrack using a theme of seemingly unconnected musical intervals. “I hate to take myself too seriously” Green explains, “and the thing that speaks to me the most is that wackiness in life” This piece includes a Michael Brecker-inspired tenor solo, a pizzicato string quartet section, and a fine trombone solo leading back into the ‘wacky’ theme.
Telepathy & Bop: 1, Telepathy & Bop: Interlude, and Telepathy & Bop: 2 are all influenced by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Ligeti (no – me neither!) and have stark atmospheres, dark harmonies and spectralism as their basis. Technically, beautifully played by all concerned and great if you’re a fan of abstract, contemporary, classical music. (I’m afraid there’s no sign of Ornithology, Oop-bop-sh’bam or Groovin’ High here!)   
La Victoire is inspired by painter Rene Magritte’s image of a cloud floating through a door by a seashore, and is more obviously a jazz vehicle with a conventional chord sequence, arrangement and a good tenor solo. Improvisation and Nebula is a dreamlike, atmospheric, piano feature with influences from Ligeti, Olivier Messiaen, Erik Satie, Claude Debussy, Bill Evans to Cecil Taylor. Great background music for a Planetarium…. Reverie Engine: The Ambiguous Rhumba is inspired by a photo of a cobblestone street in Cuba lined with classic American cars and features Todd Groves on EWI (Electric Wind Instrument). I can just picture Flavia Cacace and Vincent Simone dancing to this in a darkened café nearby………Soir Bleu: A Rag of Sorts has its origins in an Edward Hopper scene that finds a smoking clown amidst a group of Parisian diners. The promotional material suggests “Paris-by-way-of-the circus-rag” which aptly seems to sum this one up!
Is the album Interesting?  Yes,   Zany?  Yes, Colourful?  Yes.
Available February 24, 2017 from www.joshuagreenmusic.com.
Dave B.
Charles Pillow, Jay Hassler, Todd Groves, (reeds inc EWI ), Nathan Schram (viola), Clarice Jenson (cello), John Lake (tpt), Chris Misch-Bloxdorf (tmb), Nathan Kochi (accordion), Sungwon Kim (gtr), Michael Verselli (pno), Brian Courage (bass), Josh Bailey (dm) + The PUBLIQUARTET – Curtis Stewart (vln), Jannina Norpoth (vln), Nick Revel (viola), Amanda Gookin (cello).   Joshua Green (arranger and conductor).


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