Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Xhosa Cole: ''Monk was unapologetically himself". (Jazzwise, February 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

17744 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 64 of them this year alone and, so far, 64 this month (Jan. 26).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

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.

Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 12 noon-2:00pm (two sets). £12.00. admission (card or cash at the door). Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums). Note change of venue, no longer at Mrs M’s as advertised, the concert will be in the Old Library (Bishop Auckland Jazz’s regular venue). Important! It’s a ‘BYOB’ arrangement - ie bring your own booze (and/or tea, coffee, soft drinks).
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:00pm. ‘Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Balkan & More!’.
Fri 31: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Country blues duo.
Fri 31 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Wylam Institute. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf.
Fri 31: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £10.00 + bf. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.
Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00 Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 31: SwanNek + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SwanNek’s new single launch gig. Pilgrim, formerly Hoochie Coochie.
Fri 31: King Bees @ Blues Underground; Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

February 2025

Sat 01: Alan Barnes & John Hallam with the Tom Kincaid Trio @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 01: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 01: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Western swing etc.

Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 02: Jive Aces @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Sun 02: John Pope + Andy Champion + Ian Paterson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Subterranean Explorations 1’. Three (half hour) solo bass sets.
Sun 02: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 03: Andy Watt & Dan Rogers @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance. Jazz, blues, folk etc.
Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 04: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.
Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Phillips, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 04: Dilutey Juice + Life Aquatics Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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, September 11, 2017

The Ushaw Ensemble: St Cuthbert’s Suite and The Sound of Achill @ The Gala Studio, Durham - August 25


(Review by Brian Ebbatson)
The Ushaw Ensemble was put together by Musical Director Paul Edis to perform Paul’s St Cuthbert Suite on the occasion of St Cuthbert’s Day 2016 at Ushaw College and in the Chapel in Durham Cathedral. This was - to my knowledge - only its third public performance.
Paul was somewhat nervous as to how the Durham Gala Lunchtime concert audience would respond to longer compositions, requiring more engagement. However, his two pieces were received with the warmth and appreciation now customary at these concerts. Many in particularly commented on the depth and inventive narrative of the music, as well as its interpretation by the band.
The suite - in two parts - follows the life of Cuthbert in Melrose, Richmond, Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands, his death and subsequent canonisation, Viking raids, and the flight and wanderings of the Lindisfarne monks with his coffin, their Gospel and other treasured possessions to their ultimate refuge on the peninsula in Durham. Paul’s programme notes guided the audience through the suite and were important to the understanding and appreciation of the musical narrative and exposition.

The instrumentalists assembled through the Ensemble allow the work to feature a wide sound palette, exploring the different tones and textures offered both by conventional jazz instrumentation as well as that from Northumbrian folk traditions, while the composition reflects the moods and emotional impact of composers such as Debussy and Ravel, Ellington and Messiaen. All instruments contribute both to the ensemble work as well as featuring in solos. The combination of violin and reeds is familiar to jazz composition, and pipes and violin to folk music, but the combination of pipes, violin and brass (not to mention flute and bass clarinet) produce new and exciting ensemble sounds which merit further exposure.

The Suite opens on violin with St Cuthbert’s Theme, which is developed and returned to throughout the work. Andy’s pipes feature first on A Shepherd from Melrose, backed by trumpet, sax and piano. They are joined in impressionistic lines by Emma’s violin for Cuthbert’s Vision, with harmonies from the other players. Trumpet and pipes, piano and sax all feature on The Indefatigable Evangelist, which concludes with an abrupt stop, after which the musicians move straight into Solitude, a reflective piece depicting the saint’s later hermit life on Lindisfarne and the Farne Islands. Paul Susan’s pizzicato double bass introduces the melody, which is then picked up by Graeme’s bass clarinet, another beautiful tonal combination, followed by a carefully constructed solo by Graham on flugel. Then flugel and sax develop the thematic lines, with Emma concluding Part I as she began it on violin.

Rob’s muffled percussion creates the setting for Many Miracles, opening Part II. Pipes, sax, trumpet and violin develop the musical narrative against Rob’s compelling percussion. Emma’s violin introduces The Death of Cuthbert on an exquisite high note, with accompanying harmonies from the front-line players. In contrast, The Vikings is a more explosive and at times violent piece. Paul Susan’s slow dark bowed bass line foreshadows the ensuing tumult, strident trumpet notes and piano chords build the tension, the drums crash as the ominous mood builds. The bass, now plucked at pace, leads in to the onslaught, the percussion clashes wildly, Graeme’s tenor improvises screeching lines up, down and across the scales, Rob’s lengthy drum solo reaches a rolling climax and the music fades back to the bowed bass as the fighting concludes.

Paul’s piano sets out in 7/8 time for Seven Years Wandering as the monks flee Lindisfarne with Cuthbert’s coffin, Graeme solos on tenor, followed by Paul on piano, Emma’s violin, Graeme’s flute, Paul Susan’s bowed bass and Rob’s cymbal crash. The Wonder Worker of England restates the opening Cuthbert’s Theme, featuring tight ensemble playing, and the suite concludes with Dunholme, in which the musicians improvise around the sounds of birdsong on the banks of the Wear. The pipes close the suite with a final lament.

The Sound of Achill is a new piece, approximately ten minutes long, so the audience was treated to a World Premiere! It seeks to depict both the serenity and the wildness experienced on Ireland’s Atlantic coast.  Again the pipes play the introductory theme, backed by trumpet, sax, and violin. Then piano, accompanied by pizzicato violin, lead to sax and trumpet weaving patterns around the theme. Paul’s piano introduces a pipes solo, bass and drums in support. Rob changes the rhythm and Paul stretches out on a long solo, building intensity to lead to Rob’s final drums – no serenity here. The piece concludes with bass and pizzicato violin again, and brass and pipes bringing the piece to close.
This ensemble and these compositions certainly deserve more exposure, either through performance or recording, particularly as the repertoire expands. Perhaps we can only then gain and give a full appreciation of their music. Hopefully the logistics of getting the musicians together and the finances will not overly restrict the opportunities.
Brian 
Paul Edis (MD/composer/piano); Graeme Wilson (saxes/bass clarinet, flute); Graham Hardy (trumpet/flugel); Emma Fisk (violin); Andy May (Northumbrian pipes); Rob Walker (drums/percussion); Paus Susans (double bass).

No comments :

Blog Archive