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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17945 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far, 22 this month (April 8).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

Thu 10: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.CANCELLED!
Thu 10: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £7.00. A Globe fundraiser (all proceeds to the venue).
Thu 10: Exhaust: Camila Nebbia/Kit Downes/Andrew Lisle @ Jesmond URC, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. JNE.
Thu 10: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Feat. guests Ray Dales & Jackie Summers.

Fri 11: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 11: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 11: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 11: John Rowland Trio: The Music of Ben Webster @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00. Rowland (tenor sax); Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Fri 11: Imelda May @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 11: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ Cullercoats Watch House. 7:30-9:00pm. Free (donations).

Sat 12: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 12: Rob Heron & the Tea Pad Orchestra + House of the Black Gardenia + King Bees @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 6:30pm (doors). £18.00.
Sat 12: Bright Street Big Band @ Washington Arts Centre. 6:30pm. £12.00. Event includes swing dance taster session, DJ dance session. Bright Street Big Band on stage 7:30-8:15pm & 8:45-9:30pm. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Imelda May @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £42.20. SOLD OUT!
Sat 12: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Daniel John Martin with Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 13: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 13: Hejira: A Celebration of Joni Mitchell @ Wylam Brewery, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £22.50.
Sun 13: Wilkinson/Edwards/Noble + Chojnacki @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £13.20., £11.00. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

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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