Total Pageviews

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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

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: 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.

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

Friday, July 21, 2017

Key Moments...

Bassist and occasional contributor to these pages, David Brownlow, has been thinking back to some of the key jazz moments that impacted on him over the years both as a listener and a player. He mentions some of them here and hopes that other readers will follow suit with their thoughts. 
The 60s to the Noughties saw many visiting stars in concert - Diz, Stitt, Hawk, Eldridge, Peterson, Ray Brown, Kessel, Brubeck, MJQ, Ellington, Hi-Los, Ella, Gil Evans, Miles, Trane, Dolphy, Elvin Jones, Ronnie Scott, Stan  Tracey, Mick Mulligan/George Melly, Keith Jarrett & 'Standards Trio' and others not-quite so memorable !
Circa 1970s    Met Red Rodney [pictured left with Bill Harper] at the Corner House.    Rodney played with Bird !!
At the Coltrane concert at the City Hall after 5 mins of "Impressions" half of the crowd walked out in disgust, others stayed to shout abuse at the band or walked around in the venue chatting to friends!

1960s/70s/80s. Occasionally played double bass in the trios of Peter Jacobsen, Kenny Morrell, John Hall and George Richardson. What a privilege to work with four of the finest musicians from the region....

At one gig I played at in Walkergate, a waitress carrying a tray of dishes and cutlery collapsed and died there and then in front of the stand! Of course, we just kept on playing....!

Four discs which changed the face of jazz:
1) Jazz at Massey Hall - summarises the whole bebop movement...
2) Portrait In Jazz - Bill Evans/La Faro/Motian. A new star arrived together with a formidable bassist who challenged the way the bass could be played and a whole new conception of the piano trio, all on one LP!
3) My Favourite Things - John Coltrane Quartet - Pointing the way to a new direction in jazz with solos on vamps, scales and modes helped by Tyner's unusual comping and Elvin Jones' elevation of drum technique.
4) Miles Ahead - Gil Evans & Miles Davis: A major collaboration where Gil took jazz orchestration into new areas helping Miles to achieve another development in his fine career.
Dave B.

No comments :

Blog Archive