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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17921 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 242 of them this year alone and, so far, 89 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE! See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 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

Friday, June 29, 2018

CD Review: John Coltrane - Both Directions at Once. The Lost Album

John Coltrane (soprano/tenor); McCoy Tyner (piano); Jimmy Garrison (bass); Elvin Jones (drums).
(Reviewed by Lance).
Released today (June 29)*
There's been so much hype about this - even Sonny Rollins got in on the act saying "This is like finding a new room in the Great Pyramid" - I was almost afraid to play it, knowing that it couldn't be that wonderful and I felt I was setting myself up for the great letdown.
I was wrong!

A few words, possibly from the recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder, an unaccompanied phrase on soprano, and we're off to the races with all my worries left on the doorstep. Trane was on fire and only occasionally popped into the pet shop. 
"Titled" Untitled Original 11383 - Take 1 he swoops and soars, probes the outer limits. I've never been over keen on soprano saxes but I like what Trane's doing here. Tyner carries the torch, still burning brightly, hands it to Garrison who can bow his way around corners and does just that before switching to pizzicato.
Nature Boy, fairly straightforward by Coltrane's standards, has the great man on tenor, piano lays out whilst bass and drums put down some exotic, underlying rhythms giving Trane the framework to explore and develop the theme.
Another Untitled Original, this time it's 11386 - Take 1. Again on soprano and it's another hidden gem emerging 55 years on. Tyner superb and Elvin punctuating everything. Sometimes explosively, sometimes subtly but always appropriately.  Elvin and Garrison work so so well together - hear the interplay towards the track end.
Vilia. From Lehar's operetta The Merry Widow. What a strange choice although I've always maintained that if the player's good enough then so is the tune - Sonny Rollins once said something similar. It's a swinger, Trane's almost in Stan Getz mode and gives an indication for the inspiration behind the album's title - Both Directions at Once - for this is what we get. Coltrane remembering his roots and at the same time, looking to the future saying, this is where I've been, this is where I am  and this is where I'm going. This latter direction is demonstrated in this version of his oft-recorded Impressions. The sheets of sound may not have been fully unfolded but they are certainly out of the airing cupboard. 
Slow Blues does what it says on the tin and more. The opened tin has released the old 12 bar sequence into a brave, yet anguished, new world. The shackles are coming off, jump aboard the Freedom Train. Coltrane and Jones are driver and fireman, Tyner and Garrison First Class passengers.
One Up, One Down, a swinger to end all swingers. Anyone who hasn't listed this as the best previously unreleased album of the year could only be a banjo player.
The following day Coltrane was to go into the studio with singer Johnny Hartman where the singer and the Coltrane Quartet recorded possibly the greatest jazz vocal album ever whilst this album remained forgotten and gathering dust for 55 years!
Lance
*Available from June 29 on Impulse as:
a) Single CD.
b) Deluxe double CD with alternate takes.
c) 12" vinyl LP.

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