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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Thursday, May 24, 2018

CD Review: Matt Anderson Quartet - Rambling

Matt Anderson (tenor & alto saxophones); Peter Lee (piano, keyboards); Will Harris (double bass); Jay Davis (drums) + Nick Malcolm (trumpet) tracks 1,2,6,9,10; Owen Dawson (trombone) tracks 1,2,6,9,10; Aubin Vanns (guitar) tracks 1,2,9,10
(Review by Russell). 
Rambling is Matt Anderson’s follow up to his 2015 debut recording Wild Flower. The saxophonist’s quartet – Peter Lee, piano and keyboards, Will Harris, double bass and drummer Jay Davis – with the addition of contributions from trumpeter Nick Malcolm, trombonist Owen Dawson, and guitarist Aubin Banns, further enhances the Yorkshireman’s reputation as an accomplished composer. The ten tracks on this Jellymould release were written by Anderson and the band leader has the grace and humility to state that track number four – Count Up/Tune Down – is based on John Coltrane’s Countdown.

Rambling is framed by a brass band-like beginning and a brass band-like ending, perhaps owing a debt to Anderson’s north of England upbringing. The oft stately form of the colliery band is present in Anderson’s writing; Jig, Jag, Jug the opening track isn’t in a hurry, and much of the remainder is similarly restrained, the final track being a reprise of the first. The saxophonist’s long-time working relationship with Aubin Vanns pays dividends on this recording with the guitarist exercising typical restraint and exhibiting an increasingly rare attribute – taste. Nordic Blues features Vanns; chords, emergent solo, ceding to Anderson and the band’s in-the-pocket groove.

Matt Anderson’s solos often at once reflective, yet fluent – hearing the saxophonist at a gig shows just what he is capable of – can, perhaps, be best illustrated by October Ending. Peter Lee’s piano opening adopts a reflective tone, bassist Will Harris solos concisely, quietly, reflectively, before the band leader assumes command with effortless fluency and clarity of thought. A midway interlude – The Long White Cloud – returns to a brass band theme before Anderson steps on the gas blowing hard, then swinging tenor on Metaphorical Gardening and The Ayes Have It. Guest trumpeter Nick Malcolm shows his hand on Nørrebro, a fine composition, illustrating why Anderson was a worthy recipient of the 2017 Dankworth Prize for Jazz Composition.

Three years ago Matt Anderson released Wild Flower to critical acclaim, 2018’s Rambling is likely to garner similar praise.
Russell.                 
Rambling by the Matt Anderson Quartet is available from May 25 on Jellymould Jazz (cat.no  JM-JJ030).  


The Matt Anderson Quartet’s new album tour began at the Musicport on the Moors Festival.  Dates continue into the autumn. Visit: www.matt-anderson.org.uk 

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