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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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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, January 22, 2017

CD Review:Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra - Efferevescence

Youth Jazz Orchestra no longer conjures up images of well-intentioned youngsters vainly attempting to emulate their peers. Quite the contrary. Like NYJO and many of the bands who will compete in this year's Sunderland Big Band Festival (March 3-5 at Chester le Street) the YJOs are of a standard where they can hold their own with just about any of the more seasoned performers. This is due, of course, to the ability of some of those seasoned performers to pass on their wisdom to the emerging talents. In the case of the TSYJO there can be few better equipped to bring out the best in a band than Tommy Smith. Equally at home with the internationally acclaimed Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, or a small band, or a symphony orchestra, Smith can do the business. On this third album by the TSYJO tribute is paid to some vintage numbers and some fresh interpretations of more contemporary jazz classics.

Apple Honey: The old potboiler from Woody's First Herd. It's near enough the original arrangement with the young soloists capturing the spirit of the original. Michael Butcher is Flip, Liam Shortall close enough to Bill Harris to almost fool you, Helena Kay plays some smooth clarinet that is perhaps nearer to Benny than Woody, Fergus McReady holds Ralph Burns to a score draw and Tom Walsh takes it out on a [literal] high.
The Way You Look Tonight: Florian Ross' imaginative arrangement features Jackson on alto and Garrity on trombone. Two assured soloists who do credit to Tommy Smith, Ross and - Jerome Kern. I doubt if the latter's estate will be going to litigation over this as they once did over a version of a Kern tune by Dizzy!
Blues March: It may not have the earthy rawness of the original version by Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, indeed, I doubt if any of the umpteen versions recorded since then have matched it but, nevertheless, the TSYJO make a decent fist of it with solos by Bates, Stylianides and Bowden.
Humpty Dumpty: The first of two Chick Corea numbers showcases Williamson, Johnstone and Henderson in another Ross arrangement. None of whom took a great fall but did take great solos and nobody laid an egg
Tam O' Shanter: An original by Sean Bates that, as the title implies, takes us through the heather to Bannockburn to the skirl of Joe Williamson's guitar with maybe a wee dram on the way and a Michael Butcher chaser on the way back.
Nefertiti: Ross arranged the Miles Davis classic as a tenor feature for Butcher who does his growing reputation no harm.
Things to Come: Needless to say, the trumpets needed their lip in for this one taking Dizzy's look to the future even further forward. Gibbs and Kay the soloists with Henderson propelling the spaceship.
Bud Powell: A second helping of Chick Corea, this time arranged by Christian Jacob, has Gibbs once again in the spotlight and the first glimpse of Tessier on tenor. It rounds off an album that restores my faith in the future - at least jazzwise!
Lance.
Tom Walsh, Sean Gibbs, Joshua Elcock, Christos Stylianides, Cameron T Duncan, Tom Clay Harris (trumpets); Michael Owers, Liam Shortall, Kevin Garrity, Richard Foote (trombones); Helen Clay (alto/clarinet), Adam Jackson (alto), Samuel Tessier, Michael Butcher (tenors), Heather Mackintosh (baritone); Joe Williamson (guitar), Fergus McCreadie/ Pete Johnstone (piano), David Bowden (bass), Stephen Henderson (drums); Tommy Smith (MD/producer).
Available on Spartacus Records. Contact ts@spartacusrecords.com.

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