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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

Thursday, August 31, 2017

CD Review: Leo Richardson Quartet - The Chase

Leo Richardson (tenor); Rick Simpson (piano); Mark Lewandowski (bass); Ed Richardson (drums) + Quintin Collins trumpet on 3 tracks) ; Alan Skidmore (tenor on 1 track).
(Review by Lance).
Still early days but, when I heard this album my immediate thought was that all bets are off regarding the CD of the Year. I double checked - had I put on a Dexter Gordon CD by mistake? No this wasn't the great Dex - none of those amusing quotes that gradually become annoying!
Nothing to annoy here. Just pleasure of the kind that Dexter gave in between the quotes. Leo is the most exciting tenor saxist that I've heard since Simon Spillett arrived on the scene. This is hard bop Blue Note as it was when I were a lad. Think Jazz Messengers and, if you were on Tyneside in the early '60s, the Emcee Five.
Then imagine them having absorbed some of the contemporary sounds along the way and you're getting close. Close, but no cigar. The Leo Richardson Quartet, augmented by Quintin Collins (3 tracks) and Alan Skidmore (1) owe direct allegiance to no one and indirect allegiance to everyone recorded by Rudy Van Gelder.
Wow! I just don't know where to begin.
Blues For Joe, Joe being Joe Henderson is a natural for Leo blowing, as he does, with the same intensity as the late master and driven on by Ed Richardson (kinfolk?).
Demon E. Collins brings some Lee Morgan to the table and the two horns ensure that 'Blakey Lives'.
The Curve. A blues with a bridge - maybe that's the curve that's been thrown. It doesn't phase them. Still in quintet form, it's another belter. Reminds me of Sidewinder.
The Chase, needless to say, has stunning tenor and trumpet solos but it's Rick and Ed who lay claim to the cigars with Mark providing the lighter fuel.
Elisha's Song is a sumptuous ballad. Romantic but not cloying. Whoever Elisha is she must surely be overwhelmed by the outpouring of love from the tenor saxophone as well as a shorter but equally sincere display of devotion from the piano.
Mambo has but a tenuous relationship to the South American dance and nobody shouts 'ooh'! This doesn't stop it swinging!
Silver Lining; a tribute to Horace Silver that continues to lay down the groove before Alan Skidmore enters the warzone and the frontline advance under Mr. Skid who sets it well and truly alight. But, you ain't heard nuttin' yet ...
I've kept the good news till last.
The Leo Richardson Quartet are booked to play Darlington's Opus 4 Club (Travellers Rest, 2 West Auckland Rd., Cockerton, Darlington DL3 9ER.) on Friday, December 1.
Album available October 6, launch October 11 at The Spice of Life (ah memories!) Soho.
Check it out here.
Lance.

1 comment :

Russell said...

Leo played tenor in Matt Roberts Sextet at the Darlington Jazz Festival 2016 and 2017. An amazing player who generated feverish excitement. Opus 4 Dec. 1, be there.

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