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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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 01, 2017

CD Review: Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor – Double Exposure

Stan Sulzmann – piccolo, flute, alto flute, clarinet, saxophones; John Taylor – piano, synthesiser
(Review by Hugh C)
It was during my conversation with Nikki Iles at the Late Night Jazz gig at Hexham Abbey Festival that my attention was drawn to the existence of this CD.  My interest was sparked and I sought out a copy.  The CD was actually recorded in 1990 at Sentinel Studios in Cornwall and has (for reasons unspecified) just been released this year.
Stan Sulzmann and John Taylor were invited in 1990 to Cornwall by the studio to spend a few days recording and experimenting with new material and sounds.  At that time Sulzmann owned a Roland D50 synthesiser, which he lent to John Taylor. JT proceeded to completely reprogram the synthesiser and personalise it to his own requirements.  The duo were able to experiment using the synthesiser in improvised duets, as well as performing their compositions with John Taylor on piano.  Some of the new pieces were conceived on site.  This CD shows a side of John Taylor which became unfamiliar in his later years, where he concentrated solely on his first love, his Steinway piano.
Pure and Simple is just that – a jazz duet between soprano sax and acoustic piano.  Slow Loris again sees Taylor at the piano, largely solo, but with a short contribution by Sulzmann on tenor sax towards the end.  Stango features piano and tenor and, as you might expect, transports you to Buenos Aires (not far from Cornwall really!).  In Stango we begin to feel the influences of music other than “jazz”.  The next track Free Ballad takes us to a ghostly world of synthesised sounds.  This is the first of three tracks on the CD with joint compositional attribution – perhaps one of those conceived on at the time of recording.  Despite the word Free in the title, it remains definitely melodic, and to my ear definitely Ballad. 
Extracts (also co-composed) jolts this complacency with repetitive stabbing synthesiser and saxophone turning to abstract riffs and effects.  CD Smith (flute and piano) takes us in the direction of European contemporary music and reflects the artists' influences such as Messiaen, Prokofiev and Hindemith.  Country/Raindrops (co-composed) is (what I would call free), with seemingly (to the untutored ear) random sounds from reeds, flute and synthesiser – I do however get the raindrops component. 
Cartoon/Room for Improvement (flutes/synthesiser) is in a similar vein to the previous track initially, but turns into a jaunty ditty with fine flute and piccolo playing by Sulzmann; piano is added later.  Straight Man has a Messiaenic quality, with spectral extended chords on synth and melodic overlay by Sulzmann's clarinet.  'Q' is a quick fire duel between piano and saxophone which settles into more of a duet over time.  Ocean Deep (piano/saxophone) returns to more of a conventional jazz idiom.  Spider features piano and flute and could perhaps be a sensual combination that draws you into its web.  The final track, Heart, takes us back to where we began – piano and saxophone.   The track deliberately leaves us with a question as it slowly fades to nothing at 5.15

This CD (26 years in gestation) was mastered and edited in 2016 and released earlier this year.  It shows a side of both Taylor and Sulzmann which is probably not familiar to the majority of listeners.  In a London Jazz News podcast, Sulzmann suggests reasons as to why John Taylor may have returned to the piano following his adventures into electronics. Sulzmann himself also now concentrates on the saxophone, and has sold his piccolo and clarinet.
Insightful review?  Perhaps, but a lot of the insight comes from the mouth/pen of Mr Sulzmann himself.
Hugh C
Double Exposure is released on Inversion Records (INV002CD) and is available through Interspear Music, Jazz CDs and Amazon.
The London Jazz News podcast of an interview with Stan Sulzmann is available to download here.

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