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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 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

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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