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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

17945 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 266 of them this year alone and, so far, 22 this month (April 8).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Michael Young, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Only Six Standards.
Thu 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Fri 18: Alexia Gardner @ Fika Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 7:00pm. Trio (Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy).RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13

Fri 18: Sarah Jane Morris & Tony Remy: The Sisterhood @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00.

Sat 19: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 19: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 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

Saturday, October 28, 2017

From the Village Hotel to the Village Vanguard! CD Review: Cécile McLorin Salvant - Dreams and Daggers

Cécile McLorin Salvant (vocals); Aaron Diehl (piano); Paul Sikivie (bass); Lawrence Leathers (drums); Catalyst String Quartet; Sullivan Fortner (piano).
(Review by Lance).
The main jazz action this weekend is at Whitley Bay where the annual Mike Durham's Classic Jazz Party has taken over the Village Hotel. Back in 2010, Cécile McLorin Salvant played to a packed room at the event and every man, woman and child, myself included, fell in love with her. That same year, in New York, she picked up the prestigious Monk Award - her star was in the ascendancy.
A couple of more visits to the northeast charted her progress and, on her final visit in 2013, Debra Milne caught up with her.
So, given Cécile's links with Whitley Bay, this double CD (or triple LP) came up for review at just the right time.
Recorded partly at the Village Vanguard in NYC and partly in the Michigan based Mack Avenue Studio I've come to the conclusion that Cécile is perhaps the best jazz singer in the world today and this is only her fourth album. To draw a parallel, if Diana Krall is Ella Fitzgerald then Cécile is Billie Holiday.
She's a blues singer, a jazz singer and, if they still have them, a torch singer. The complete package, the real deal.
A voice as captivating as any I've ever heard. Soft and sensuous, bold and belting, but always apropos the lyric, the mood and the melody.
Needless to say, the backing is of the highest with Aaron Diehl a pianist to reckon with at any level. Sikivie not only does the bass lines but also the arrangements whilst Leathers is heard to advantage throughout. The studio tracks are with the Catalyst Quartet and add a more sombre dimension without in anyway diminishing the appeal.
Such was the prolonged applause at the Village Vanguard an encore was inevitable and You're Getting to be a Habit With Me a most appropriate one - it's a habit I shan't be breaking.
In years to come, long after we're gone and the list of the all-time great jazz vocal albums is finally etched in stone, Dreams and Daggers will be pretty high on that list.
If you only intend to buy one jazz album in your life buy this one! Trouble is that then you'll want the previous three and all of the subsequent ones!
Lance.
Disc1: And Yet, Devil May Care, Mad About the Boy, Sam Jones' Blues, More, Never Will I Marry, Somehow I Never Could Believe, If a Girl Isn't Pretty (like Miss Atlantic City!), Red Instead, Runnin' Wild, Best Thing For You Would be me.
Disc 2: You're my Thrill, I Didn't Know What Time it Was, Tell me What They're Saying Isn't True, Nothing Like You, You've Got to Give me Some, The Worm, My Man's Gone Now, Let's Face the Music and Dance, Si J'étais Blanche, Fascination, Wild Women Don't Have the Blues, You're Getting to be a Habit With me.
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