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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

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.

Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion: Bandstand Sessions @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Northern Monkey Brass Band @ Spanish City Plaza (outdoor stage). 1:00pm. Free. A Whitley Bay Carnival event.
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Catriona Bourne Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Bourne (harp), Francis Tulip (guitar), James Owston (double bass), Joe Bainbridge (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Struggle Buggy @ The Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sun 25: Joe Steels Group + Norma Winstone (vocals); Nikki Iles (piano); Mike Walker (guitar); Steve Watts (double bass). 7:00pm. Admission: see website: www.queenshall.co.uk. Steels (guitar); Ferg Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Susans (double bass); John Hirst (drums). A Northumberland Jazz Festival event.
Sun 25: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 25: Xhosa Cole/Neil Charles/Mark Sanders @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A JNE promotion. Note: Xhosa Cole replaces Nicole Mitchell.

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

Tuesday, February 20, 2018

CD Review: Andy Sheppard Quartet – Romaria

Andy Sheppard – tenor and soprano saxophones; Eivind Aarset – guitar; Michel Benita – double bass; Sebastian Rochford – drums
(Review by Hugh C) 
There was something of the theatrical about my encounter, at the Alphabetti theatre, with a diminutive, smartly dressed gentleman during the interval of the recent Strictly Smokin'/Paul Booth gig.  “I'm glad I met you, I have something for you”, he said, reaching into one of the voluminous inner pockets of his coat.  Producing a sheaf of review CDs, Lance proceeded to sort through them in the dimly lit auditorium.  “Andy Sheppard?” he said handing me a CD still in its shrink-wrap and then searching for another for me to deliver to a BSH colleague.

On the majority of occasions, a review CD from Lance will come wrapped in one or more A4 sheets of printed press release held in place by an elastic band.  This information is often duplicated on the CD case insert or the record label website.  I find these sources useful in providing a skeleton on which to hang my words.  In this case, there were no attached printed sheets, bare minimum track and personnel details on the insert and limited information on the ECM website (actually there was no mention of this CD when I first looked!). This review is therefore not influenced by any external sources and based purely on my listening and personal prejudices (Lance knows I like Andy Sheppard's output).

The CD was recorded in the spacious acoustic of Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano – home of the acclaimed Orchestra Della Svizzera Italiana.  With the exception of the title track, these are all Sheppard's compositions.  This is very much an extension of the explorative process the quartet started with their previous release, Surrounded by Sea - previously reviewed on BSH.  
Track 1, And a Day opens with a few seconds silence followed by a slow rhythmic beat on Rochford's drums, gradually joined by the other musicians.  The gentle pace of Rochford's spacious percussion is maintained throughout, overlain by melodic interplay.  Sheppard's signature tenor sound and motifs are identifiable from the start.  
Thirteen, in complete contrast, commences with rapid-fire cymbals.  Sheppard, on soprano this time, adds a middle-Eastern flavour.  The hurried pace is maintained for thfirst-halflf reducing to a more sedate pace for a while before picking up speed gradually towards the end.  
The title track, Romaria (a small municipality in Brazil) is by Brazilian singer/songwriter Renato Teixeira.  In this track, as in the majority on this album, there is complex interplay between saxophone, guitar and bass – very much a melodic participant throughout the album.  
Pop sees the laid back drumming of Rochford very much to the fore, but by no means to the exclusion of the other members of the quartet.  
They Come From The North features (perhaps not unexpectedly) the Norwegian Aarset's haunting electronically enhanced guitar chords – evoking an empty Arctic scene and the Northern Lights on the horizon. 
With Every Flower That Falls really brings Benita's bass out of the “rhythm section” and right into the melodic fold.  
All Becomes Again commences with a rhythmic bass solo, slowly picked up on the drums later joined by guitar and tenor.  
The CD goes out on a high in Forever with Sheppard's melodic tenor against Aarset's extended guitar chords.
Romaria was released on February 16 and is available on CD or LP.  ECM catalogue number: ECM 2577.
In the UK the Quartet may be seen live at St. George's, Bristol on May 3 and will also be at the 2018 Cheltenham Jazz Festival on May 6.
Hugh.

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