Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:15pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bywell Hall, Stocksfield. 1:30pm. Northumberland County Show.
Sat 24: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 24: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm.
Sat 24: Dean Stockdale Quartet + Mingus Sings @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Stockdale (piano); Tim Williams (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums) + Mingus Sings: Sara Oschlag (vocals); Alan Barnes (reeds); Tim Lapthorn (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); Clark Tracey (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sat 24: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 24: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sat 24: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 24: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, January 27, 2018

CD Review: Leslie Pintchik - You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl!

Leslie Pintchik (pno/composer) Steve Wilson (alto) Ron Horton (tpt & flugel) Shoko Nagai (accordion) Scott Hardy (basses & guitars) Michael Sarin (dms) Satoshi Takeishi (percussion)
(Review by Dave Brownlow.)
This is Leslie Pintchik’s sixth album where she leads her piano/bass/drums trio augmented on some tracks either by trumpet and alto, accordion, guitar or percussion. Leslie is a prolific composer and the CD includes six of her original pieces together with two well-known standards. She plays piano in a calm, unhurried, thoughtful style with warmth, wit and drive veering emotionally from the poignant to the playful in depth
The title track You Eat My Food, You Drink My Wine, You Steal My Girl!  (What a great title!) has an infectious melody over a lively samba/funk/blues groove and features enthusiastic solos from piano, guitar (presumably through multi-tracking) and alto.
The first of two standards, I’m Glad There Is You by Jimmy Dorsey and Paul Madeira is played as a gentle bolero by the trio with clearly-developed solos from the piano and bass. The second, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes from Jerome Kern and Otto Harbach, is played in a samba rhythm just by the trio. The well-crafted piano and bass solos lead to a conclusion where the players work hard to achieve a final result.
The haunting ballad, Mortal was written to “express a sense of life’s fragility and especially shortness” and features sensitive one-chorus solos from piano, alto, trumpet and bass - a poignant effort from the whole group.
Another quirkily named original - Your Call Will Be Answered by Our Next Available Representative in the Order in Which It Was Received. Please Stay On The Line. Your Call Is Important To Us (the longest track-title I’ve ever come across!) - has Leslie and the trio humorously engaged in something which symbolises all our frustrations when we’re trapped in similar phone calls with blood-pressure rising! Full of stops and starts, the tune swings along with strong drive from the rhythm team – the bass solo is also particularly nimble and ear catching.
Hopperesque, inspired by the iconic artist Edward Hopper, features the keening sound of Shoko Nagai’s accordion in an evocative minor-keyed outing which fuels the “feeling of mystery”. Happy Dog has the accordion again and percussion of Takeishi to the fore in a cheerful piece played in a samba-based rhythm rollicking along with playful solos from the piano, guitar-like bass and chattering percussion. Finally, A Simpler Time has a lovely melody which could easily have come from the pen of Bill Evans or Fred Hersch in its construction. Leslie makes the piano “sing” in this performance with her graceful touch at the keyboard.
Overall, a simpatico album which grows on you after repeated listening and which further extends the career of this most musical artist in her quest for originality and beauty.
Dave. 

Available on Pintchard CD-004 from 23rd February 2018 at  www.lesliepintchik.com

2 comments :

Lance said...

Seems the album and the tune's title came from an exchange she overheard whilst crossing Canal Street and West Broadway in the SoHo section of Manhattan. One of those "only in New York" moments!

IR Cargill (on F.b) said...

That's life!!!

Blog Archive