Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 2026)

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

18982 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 846 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 8.) 25.

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

From This Moment On

October.

Fri 09: Dean Stockdale Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Dean Stockdale (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Fri 09: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 09: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 09: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle.

Sat 10: Catfish Keith @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £19.00. + bf. Jumpin’ Hot Club.

Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Feat. guest Jack ‘Banjo’ Courtney (trumpet).
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Harry Christelis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A Jazz Co-op-JNE co-promotion.

Mon 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 12: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 4:45pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: NW FRQNC @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. Selina Albright, Gianni Vancini.
Wed 14: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 15: Leah Kirk: A Strange Affair @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Leah Kirk (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 15: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. PJO w. guest Graham Hardy (trumpet).

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.
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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

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