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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

17641 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 915 of them this year alone and, so far, 60 this month (Dec. 26).

From This Moment On ...

December

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.

Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington (National Trust), Cambo, Morpeth NE61 4AR. 12 noon & 2:00pm. Admission to site £19.00.
Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Archie Brown & Friends @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00-8:00pm. Free.

January 2025

Wed 01: ???

Thu 02: ???

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: John Gregory @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar.

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 01, 2017

CD Review: Sam Braysher & Michael Kanan - Golden Earrings

Sam Braysher (alto); Michael Kanan (piano).
(Review by Lance).
The duo format is becoming ever increasingly popular with both players and club owners although not always with the listener. In these times of austerity, two musicians cost less than 3, 4 or 5 which appeals to the person behind the till. For the musicians, duos need minimal, if any, rehearsals or special arrangements. Newcastle's Jazz Café was one of the first in the area to adopt this policy and, most of the time it worked although sometimes it didn't and it had to be a pairing of the region's finest to hold the attention of the Friday night crowd.
On the evidence of this album, I think Braysher and Kanan may have managed it. Unfortunately, their itinerary indicates that their tour stops short in Leeds before turning tail and heading back down south (if it's any consolation they aren't doing Clitheroe either!).
Both musicians are new to me. Braysher graduated from Guildhall where he was an Artist Fellow and a Chartered Surveyors' Prize winner. His cv includes gigs with Jorge Rossy, Barry Green, Pete Hurt, John Warren's Nonet and the London Jazz Orchestra.
His co-pilot here is leading New York pianist Michael Kanan and the album was recorded last year in Brooklyn for the Barcelona based Fresh Sound New Talent label.
Braysher's tone is similar to early Lee Konitz perhaps even lighter if that were possible. He floats in an ethereal sort of way. He's a dancer more akin to the ballet than, say, a Broadway hoofer. Kanan's also a Dancing Dan his lines weaving and entwining with his musical soulmate. Not surprisingly, given the Konitz vein, Lennie Tristano isn't far away - George Wallington too. Contrapuntal, Bach on 52nd St.
Bird's Cardboard has both men 'blowing' out and out bebop unison lines playing the complex head as one.
"Gentlemen, take your partners for the next waltz" the MC or the bandleader commands and the males escort the lady of their choice on to the dance floor where the band might play an Irving Berlin Waltz Medley which is exactly what happens here - an Irving Berlin Waltz Medley comprising; What'll I Do, Always and Remember. It's quite delightful although I'm not sure if Victor Sylvester would have approved.
With the exception of an original by Braysher (BSP), a piece by Duke and another by Tadd Dameron the bulk of the material, like so much classic jazz, is from the GASbook. Braysher and Kanan tried not to be influenced by previous jazz versions preferring to study the sheet music and popular recordings of the songs in an attempt, he says, to get into the composer's mind.
Dancing in the Dark; Cardboard; Berlin Medley; BSP; All Too Soon; In Love in Vain (Kern & Robin from Film Centennial Summer); The Scene is Clean (Dameron); Beautiful Moons Ago (Nat Cole); Golden Earrings; Way Down Yonder in New Orleans. This latter piece, Braysher says, contains a harmonic surprise towards the end. Must listen to it more carefully next time I visit one of the Trad watering holes. Braysher and Kanan provide a surprise of their own by playing, in unison, Lester Young's 1938 solo on the Kansas City Six's version of the same tune.
Recommended!
Lance.
Available Sept. 1, Launch at the Vortex Sept. 13. FSNT 1007.

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