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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Durham Alumni Big Band @ Number One Bar, Darlington. 12 noon. Free (donations).
Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + Open Mic Night participants.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. 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

Wednesday, October 18, 2017

CD Review: Andrew Linham Jazz Orchestra - Weapons of Mass Distraction

Call me old-fashioned, not just because I love the moonlight, but because I tend to go along with (most of the time) Duke's maxim that it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing. 
From the opening bars of Screaming Ab Dabs I knew that, even without any do-wah-do-wah- do wahs, this had that swing.
21st-century swing that is - timeless swing. The rhythms may not be the chug chug chug of long ago but the essential pulse is there irrespective of the meter. As the man once said, "If you gotta ask..."
Sharking in the Chalet (don't ask!) has a TV cop show feel about it with some fine piano from Tom Millar, fluent soprano from Tommy Andrews and an ensemble licensed to kill.
I Arksque You This (don't ask!) I'm not sure what the question is but if it relates to Rosie Turton's trombone solo then the answer is A+.
Dinosaur Face (don't ask!) opens with nice, relaxed pub piano, Sam Warner playing smooth trumpet, a brief moment from Chris Saunders, less brief from Andrew Robb on bass before Rich Perks perks the ante up. The ensemble's now in full flight. Phil Meadows floats around on soprano with the other soloists punctuating, the drama mounts, the dinosaurs are on the attack - is civilisation doomed? No! Meadows' soprano sends them packing and they become extinct until Laura Jurd discovers one 65 million years later but that is another story...
Pyrrhic Victory (don't ask!) sounds, to my ears, what the Goodman 1938 band may have sounded like in 2018. Some clarinet going on (Johnny Chung?); Tom Green moves his slide around a bit - another triumph for composer/arranger Linham but isn't it about time he blew?
Big Bertha's Quarter to Twos (don't ask!) Is one of those numbers that suggest somebody has opened up a jazz club in Nashville. Linham may have been involved in the shootout. That Big Bertha she's quite a gal...
Apples Aren't the Only Fruit (don't ask!) Andrew rides again with some baritone playing that doesn't take any prisoners and neither does Perks with a great guitar blast before Saunders sets the slide on fire.
Don't Mention Janet (we won't). Riley Stone-Lonergan is the one whose lips are sealed he kick starts the most exciting ensemble of the album - maybe of the year, maybe ever!
Henchmen Live the Shortest Lives (don't ask). Miguel Gorodi plays lyrical trumpet - beautiful.
Waitress Winking (don't ask!) Linham and Rosie - a flirtation twixt sax and trombone? Another amazing arrangement.
I Remember Fenton (don't ask!). The, presumably, late Fenton brings out the emotive side of Riley-Lonergan as well as that of arranger/composer Linham.
This is an absolutely amazing big band album. Is it a big band or a jazz orchestra or maybe a new dimension?
I don't know if Andrew Linham used up his whole box of tricks on these compositions and arrangements but, if he's still got a few more boxes to open, then look out world!
Lance.
Tommy Andrews, Phil Meadows, Riley Stone-Lonergan, Johnny Chung, Andrew Linham (saxes); Barney Lowe, Miguel Gorodi, Sam Warner, Matt Roberts, Andy Hall (trumpets); Rosie Turton, Tom Green, Chris Saunders, Barney Medland (trombones); Tom Millar (piano); Rich Perks (guitar); Andrew Robb (bass); Dave Ingamells (drums).
PS: I'm not 100% on the soloists as gleaned from the sleeve but closse enough for jazz I guess.

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