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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 ...

MARCH 2025.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

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: ???

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

Sunday, October 22, 2017

CD Review: Michael Messer’s Mitra - Call of the Blues

Michael Messer (guitar & vocals), Manish Pingle (Mohan veena) & Gurdain Rayatt (tabla) + Richard Causon (piano & organ)
(Review by Russell)
British bluesman Michael Messer has played in numerous line-ups during a thirty plus year career.   
In 2013 Messer was invited to perform at a festival in Mumbai. It was during his visit he met Manish Pingle. They jammed together and Messer resolved that one day they would perform together on a stage in front of an audience. Messer recruited London-based Gurdain Rayatt and, in September of that year, the trio played a gig at the Troubadour Club in London. Mitra was born.
Call of the Blues opens with the first of two songs written by Mississippi Fred McDowell. You Got to Move will be familiar to blues fans and, on first hearing, suggests the CD’s ten tracks will more than likely be comprised of readily identifiable American country blues. And, to a degree, this is the case with Michael Messer’s slide and lap steel guitars prominent in the mix. Delta bluesmen, South Side  Chicago blues, Americana – they’re all present on this album recorded in April 2015. The thing that sets this album apart is Messer’s dream project of working with classical Hindustani musicians.

Manish Pingle plays the Mohan veena, an Indian string instrument similar to Messer’s slide guitars, and Gurdain Rayatt is regarded as one of his generation’s foremost tabla players. Call of the Blues seeks to integrate Eastern and Western musical cultures. The extent to which this aim succeeds is, perhaps, down to the ears of the listener. Two Muddy Waters’ classics – Rollin’ and Tumblin’ and I Cant’ be Satisfied are inescapably the blues. Pingle and Rayatt were largely unfamiliar with Messer and his country blues repertoire and it is to their credit that they quickly assimilated the form prior to going into the recording studio. Bhupali Blues is listed as ‘Trad. Raga arranged by Messer, Pingle, Rayatt’. This is Messer gaining insight to the Eastern, Hindustani musical form – the tables turned!

JJ Cale’s Anyway the Wind Blows veers into Americana territory with the trio once again acquitting themselves – Cale’s laid back beat appears to be to the liking of all concerned. Sweetheart Darling closes the album (playing time a little over 53 minutes). Michael Messer’s Mitra is currently touring  and the itinerary includes an appearance this Friday (October 27) at Newcastle’s Jazz Café.               
Russell           
Call of the Blues by Michael Messer’s Mitra is available on Knife Edge Records (KER CD001). 

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