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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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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

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