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Bebop Spoken There

Xhosa Cole: ''Monk was unapologetically himself". (Jazzwise, 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

17744 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 64 of them this year alone and, so far, 64 this month (Jan. 26).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

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.

Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 12 noon-2:00pm (two sets). £12.00. admission (card or cash at the door). Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums). Note change of venue, no longer at Mrs M’s as advertised, the concert will be in the Old Library (Bishop Auckland Jazz’s regular venue). Important! It’s a ‘BYOB’ arrangement - ie bring your own booze (and/or tea, coffee, soft drinks).
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:00pm. ‘Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Balkan & More!’.
Fri 31: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Country blues duo.
Fri 31 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Wylam Institute. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf.
Fri 31: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £10.00 + bf. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.
Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00 Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 31: SwanNek + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SwanNek’s new single launch gig. Pilgrim, formerly Hoochie Coochie.
Fri 31: King Bees @ Blues Underground; Nelson St., Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

February 2025

Sat 01: Alan Barnes & John Hallam with the Tom Kincaid Trio @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 01: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 01: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Western swing etc.

Sun 02: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 02: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 02: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free (donations).
Sun 02: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 02: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 02: Jive Aces @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:00pm. Sun 02: John Pope + Andy Champion + Ian Paterson @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Subterranean Explorations 1’. Three (half hour) solo bass sets.
Sun 02: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 03: Andy Watt & Dan Rogers @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance. Jazz, blues, folk etc.
Mon 03: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 04: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.
Tue 04: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Phillips, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 04: Dilutey Juice + Life Aquatics Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Wed 05: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 05: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 05: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Wednesday, June 27, 2018

CD Review: Bobby Sanabria Multiverse Big Band - West Side Story Reimagined

(Review by Lance).
 By comparision, Buddy Rich's acclaimed and much-loved recording of West Side Story is the concise version compared to this latest epic. 
Two CDs, with a total running time of 1:19:38, present the whole 9 yards of the Bernstein/Sondheim musical 'reimagined' and given the Latin treatment which, I guess, fits in with the Puerto Rican aspect and makes it even more exciting. 
It would take me from here to breakfast time next week to do this fantastic live album justice suffice to say that if you'd combined the Buddy Rich Band with that of Tito Puentes and maybe threw in the bands of Chucho Valdes and Stan Kenton for good measure then, possibly, you're coming close to what went on in Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club in NYC on November 19 last year (2017).
I did say 'close'!
Each track is individually introduced before the band and the soloists run amock. This is the Jets v Sharks musical Superbowl and no prisoners taken.
Prologue: arranged by Jeremy Fletcher. Orestes Abrantes on congas and Matthew González on bongoes are the protagonists along with various whistles.
Jet Song: arranged Nika Siebold, has scorching solos by Max Darché (trumpet); Dave Miller (trombone); Peter Brainin (tenor) and González on bomba.
America: arranged by Jeff Lederer. Everything's alright in America if you're all white in America intones the narrator commenting in the album's notes of the renewed level of discrimination under the current administration. A relatively short track that, nevertheless, finds space for Chris Washburne (trombone), Andrew Gould (alto), Darwin Noguera (piano) and Leo Traversa on electric bass.
Gee Officer Krupke: arranged by Fletcher. A kaleidoscope of moods and rhythms. Sounds depicting cultural divides. Shareef Clayton's plungered trumpet solo plays it low-down and dirty - the night people are abroad as Officer Krupke walks the beat.
Tonight: arranged by Matt Wong. The romantic side of this modern Romeo and Juliet story certainly isn't sugar and spice but, then again, neither was the original. David Dejesus (alto), Brainin (tenor), Takao Heisho (cuica) and Noguero, who plays a stunning piano cadenza to finish, are the soloists.
Gym Scene - Blues Mambo: arranged by Danny Rivera. A stunning chart by Rivera who also slots in with a baritone solo after Dejesus, Gould, Brainin and Yaacov Mayman (tenor) slug it out. Kevin Bryant does a little trumpet screaming towards the end.
Gym Scene - Cha Cha Cha: arranged by Nate Sparks. Primarily it's Maria, heard later on side two. Here, Maria does the Cha Cha Cha to some fine fluting from Gabrielle Garo.
End of Act One and I need to lie down in a darkened room. The music will be forever with me and, of course, the message the whole show conveyed - How do we combat hate?
It will take more than a postcard to answer that question.
Review of the second CD will follow later when I'm back down to earth - hopefully before the release date of July 20.
Lance.

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