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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17630 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 904 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (Dec. 20).

From This Moment On ...

December

Tue 24: Lindsay Hannon & Mark Williams @ Ernest, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 11:00am-1:00pm. Free.
Tue 24: Paul Skerritt @ Mambo Wine & Dine, South Shields. 1:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.

Wed 25: Wot? No jazz!

Thu 26: The Boneshakers @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. The 17th annual Boneshakers’ Shindig.

Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free. Business as usual!.
Fri 27: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 27: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sat 28: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 11:30am. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 28: Fri 20: Castillo Nuevo @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy, Rich Herdman & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 28: Ray Stubbs R & B All-Stars @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Stepney Bank, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

Sun 29: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 29: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

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, February 13, 2017

CD Review: Noah Preminger – Meditations on Freedom

Noah Preminger (tenor saxophone), Jason Palmer (trumpet), Kim Cass (double bass) & Ian Froman (drums).
(Review by Russell)
Meditations on Freedom is Noah Preminger’s sixth album. It’s his third featuring this current line-up and it’s a gem. The tenor saxophonist started writing the music for this album on Election Day and, a matter of weeks later – December 17th – went into the studio. Subtly or pointedly, depending on your point of view, the resulting nine tracks are Preminger’s response to political developments the like of which the USA, and the wider world, hasn’t experienced in living memory.

Four cover versions and five Preminger compositions are, as the album title alludes to, meditations on freedom, and, for good measure, add democracy, justice and truth. In a world of ‘fake news’ and ‘alternative facts’ Preminger adds to the lineage of musical protest; the music of Abbey Lincoln and Max Roach, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. The saxophonist insists: I would never put myself in that category. Others may well place Preminger in the present day vanguard of jazz musicians with something to say. Covers of Bob Dylan, Bruce Hornsby, Sam Cooke and George Harrison work as improvisations in themselves. No prior knowledge of the composer/performer is required, the song titles speak volumes, such as Cooke’s A Change is Gonna Come.        

Preminger’s tenor is simultaneously fluid and taut, respectful in meditative mode, erupting into full-on tenor madness, that’s the truth. Trumpeter Jason Palmer is similarly on and off the bridle, more technique than most at his disposal. Preminger’s We Have a Dream reaches out to Dr King, 2017 America is bereft of such a pivotal figure. The quartet engages in masterful improvisatory sections on Women’s March, one of many highlights on this Dry Bridge Records CD.  
     
Improvisations on a theme abound on Meditations on Freedom. Boundaries blurred, the composed and the improvised at times indivisible. Bassist Kim Cass and drummer Ian Froman contribute fully to the recording. Preminger prefers to record ‘as live’, no booths or headphones, and, as the tenor saxophonist’s co-producer Jimmy Katz observes…with everybody right next to each other just like on the bandstand.

Noah Preminger’s Meditations on Freedom is available now on Dry Bridge Records (005). The quartet will be touring the US in April and beyond. As and when Noah Preminger tours this side of the Atlantic make it a priority to hear him in concert.  

Russell.                    

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