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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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Tue 08: ???

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.

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, August 15, 2017

Book Review: Trevor Barre - Convergences, Divergences & Affinities (Compass Publishing 2017)

Not being over-familiar with the genre, free improvisation, it would be unfair of me to pass judgement on this well-written and equally well-researched historical treatise. Nevertheless, before moving on to the Press Release, I will make a few observations. Steve Beresford claims that Free Improv. is not jazz...some of it sounds like jazz but they're not playing it. This equates with what Charlie Parker said about Bebop, that it's not jazz. This has, forever, been the problem with any new art form and music in particular. The listener judges the 'new thing' using the values of its predecessor. Neither better nor worse, the key word is 'different'.
At one point, someone - it may have been the author - opines that everything that happened after the 1970s was a form of revivalism. Not just in jazz but all art forms. I'm saying that it was the author but it may actually have been someone I was discussing the book with. If it was, I apologise, but it may well be true.
A quote from the press release below is a good summing up: Written in a non-technical way, inviting newcomers to free improvisation to learn about what can initially appear a very opaque scene, as well as wanting to appeal to those older fans who like a good story, Convergences will attract, not repel.
The author's wife, when asked to define the differences between the '60s and the '70s said: "It was when trousers went straight".
The fact that a mouldy old figge [by today's standards] like me found it near-unputdownable says much for the writer. I'll certainly be looking at improv. with a less jaundiced view in the future thanks to Trevor Barre.
However, in case you think this is not without its pitfalls there are a couple of minor points I feel obliged to make.
1) An index would have greatly enhanced it as a tool of reference.
2) The regional scene isn't given quite as much attention as promised. In our neck of the woods, the North Eastern Musicians Collective and Spectro are mentioned briefly and there's an oblique reference to Sunderland. York and Leeds too are cited but I'd have liked more.
However, these are minor quibbles and - whatever your views - it's a very good read.
Lance.
----- 
(Press Release)
Sub-titled The Second Wave Of Free Improvisation In England, 1973-79, this is Barre’s second book about English Free Improvisation, and follows his Beyond Jazz, The Golden Age Of Free Music in London, 1966-72, an account of the genre’s formative years. Beyond Jazz was well received and gained many favourable reviews in the press. In particular, it seemed that the book both shone a light on, and provided a much-needed account of, a music that had previously been next to ignored in the media. It was, in fact, the first such book of its kind, surprising given the lionisation of most other genres from the ’60s and ’70s.

 If Beyond Jazz suggests a Golden Age, then Convergences can be said to cover a seven-year Silver Age, when free improv developed and changed, whilst remaining challenging and provocative, England’s very own avant-garde, which paralleled and interacted with more popular strains like punk and post-punk. A fair amount of recorded evidence exists and is discussed in the book, and we are lucky that it is complemented by the contemporary magazine Musics, which is also studied in some detail as the house organ of the “movement”. The emergence of a “second generation” is studied, and the continuing work of the first, and the formation of several musical collectives/cooperatives across the country, gets the attention it finally deserves. The figures of Steve Beresford, Lol Coxhill and Terry Day are identified as key mischief-making talents that represent the serious fun that the music provided, and get their own dedicated sections in the book.

Written in a non-technical way, inviting newcomers to free improvisation to learn about what can initially appear a very opaque scene, as well as wanting to appeal to those older fans who like a good story, Convergences will attract, not repel.

Along with Beyond Jazz, Convergences, Divergences & Affinities continues the history of this fascinating and divisive art form. The two books together chronicle the first 15 years of English free improvisation, a hard to generify area of music that is still manifesting

As well as encouraging those new to the genre to listen without prejudice, the book will prompt veteran listeners to reinvestigate its roots, dig out old recordings and venture out to witness the music live – the best way, in Barre’s view – to appreciate its joys and challenges.

About the author
Trevor Barre has been a fan of the music since the early ’70s. Since retiring as a mental health practitioner, he has found the time to translate his enthusiasms into the written word. Many moons ago, he managed a record shop, which aided his burgeoning vinyl dependence. He has lived in London for 32 years, usually within striking distance of improvised music venues, is married, and has three children.

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