Total Pageviews

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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. 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

Thursday, October 12, 2017

CD Review: Brandon Allen - The Gene Ammons Project.


Brandon Allen (tenor); Ross Stanley (piano/Rhodes/Hammond); Arnie Somogi (elec/acc. bass); Matt Home (drums).
(Review by Lance).
As someone who first heard Gene Ammons blowing Seven-Eleven alongside Sonny Stitt on a still treasured Esquire 78 that was later followed up by a 10" LP on the same label,  I viewed this CD by Brandon Allen with a mixture of anticipation - and fear!
Fantastic that one of today's leading UK tenor men saw fit to delve into Ammon's legacy but there was also the worry of whether or not he could he cut it.
I needn't have worried!
Allen does Ammons proud. Not the fawning, lipservice, cloning that some of the Lester Youngsters did but a genuine grasp of what the man was all about. The tone is there, the ideas too but they're Allen's ideas even though we know where they're coming from.
I'd call this straight down the middle tenor playing. The blues, the funk and the soul are in there but so is the tenderness - listen to I Sold My Heart to the Junkman. Poignant!
The album covers two parts of Ammons career the 1950s to the early 1960s (Ammons was off the scene for most of the sixties) and the 1969-1972 period where his inspiration was derived as much from the r & b/soul scene as it was from what was happening in jazz at the time.
Allen absorbed all these elements to produce an album that, I'm sure, 'Jug' himself would have been proud of.
Of course, it goes without saying that with Stanley, Somogi and Home in the engine room, it would  have been impossible for Allen not to be firing on all cylinders!
Tracks: (brackets indicate the year of the original recordings by Gene Ammons).
Please Baby, Won't You Please Say Yes? (51); The Breeze and I (61); Gerr-ru (69); You're Not the Kind (51); I Sold My Heart to the Junkman (61); Piece to Keep Away Evil Spirits (70); Ben (72); The Black Cat (70); Lucille (72); Son of a Preacher Man (69).
Over the years, I've played a lot of Gene Ammons and, in the years to come (looks towards heaven), I'll be playing a lot of Brandon Allen.
Lance
Sample/buy.
at

1 comment :

Peter Fairman (on F/b). said...

It's a great Album. Look forward to more releases in the near future.

Thursday, October 12, 2017 7:47:00 pm

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments ( Atom )

Blog Archive