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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

Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £5.00.

Fri 14: John Rowland Trio @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 12:30-1:30pm. £5.00. at the door. New second Friday in the month concert series.
Fri 14: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 14: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 14: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 14: Archipelago + Anna Tempest @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £12.00., £10.00., £8.00.
Fri 14: Paul Jones & Dave Kelly @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 14: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Fri 14: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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.

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

Saturday, November 03, 2018

CD Review: John McLaughlin and the Fourth Dimension with Jimmy Herring and the Invisible Whip - Live in San Francisco.

John McLaughlin (12 string double neck and 6 string guitars), Ranjit Barot (drums, konocol and vocals), Gary Husband (electric piano and synths), Etienne M'Bappe (bass guitar and vocals). 

James Herring (guitar), Jason Crosby (violin, Fender Rhodes and vocals), Kevin Scott (bass guitar), Jeff Sipe (drums and gong), Matt Slocum (Hammond B3 and clavinet).
(Review by Steve T.)

It's probably easier to think of this as a Mahavishnu Orchestra album and MO Mk 1 was, at least, first and foremost a live band. This is where they changed lives, mine included. Because John is a musician who never really looked back, while there's been plenty of bootlegs, legitimate live recordings of their repertoire are pretty scarce, with three of mixed quality finally getting approval a few years back.

As far as memory serves, this is the same set-list Francis and I saw in Chicago three weeks earlier (about this time last year). It's more or less a best of/greatest hits set - insomuch as such terms have any relevancy here - drawn from the three albums by the original line-up and Visions of the Emerald Beyond from Mk 2; my favourite album and his.


Meeting of the Spirits kicked things off, as it did when he unleashed their debut album on an unsuspecting world in 1971. Straight into Birds of Fire, title track and opener of their follow-up, which seems to have more weight than in the studio, with more power-house drumming and exchanging guitar solos from the two players, and Herring's would be perfectly blistering in any other company. 
     
Back to the debut for Lotus on Irish Springs, which here sounds like it could have been recorded ten years later, in very different times for John McLaughlin and fusion jazz. Dance of Maya is another heavyweight from the same album which leads into Trilogy, from Between Nothingness and Eternity, a live set from 73, released to fulfil contractual obligations, with a studio version eventually rolling up as the millennium drew to a close. Ranjit Barot provides the Indian konocal singing style many people in the West would have first heard in his next band Shakti.
Earth Ship and Eternity's Breath are two killers from the Visions of the Emerald Beyond - an album chocker full of killers - and, while brilliant, the shortcomings in the vocal department are more apparent than I remember from the live gig.
Also from that album, Be Happy was the encore in Chicago and closes this set following more konocal by way of introduction. I can still remember being grateful for the encore, and such an explosive piece late in the set, but also a tinge of sadness that it had to come to an end.
Out now and in your local record store (there’s still a few) for a mere £15. 
Hugely recommended.

Steve T.      

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