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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

1803759 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 480 of them this year alone and, so far, 58 this month (June 18).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

Sat 28: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Linskill Centre, North Shields. 4:00-10:30pm. Free, but ticketed (over 18s only). A multi-bill, multi-genre ‘Canny Shiels - North Shields 800’ event. Three Kings Brewery on site.
Sat 28: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 28: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 29: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 29: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ The Fire Station, Sunderland. 3:00pm. Ray McVay & co.
Sun 29: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 29: Zoë Gilby w. Ryton Choral Society @ Corbridge Middle School NE45 5HX. 5:30pm. £15.00. Gilby w jazz trio & choir. ‘An evening of jazz song for choir’.
Sun 29: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 29: John Wilson & the Sinfonia of London @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Greatest Hits’.
Sun 29: Out Front @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

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

Tuesday, November 13, 2018

CD Review: Lucas Pino’s ‘No Net Nonet’ - That’s A Computer

Lucas Pino (tenor sax/bass clarinet), Alex LoRe (alto), Mat Jodrell (trumpet), Nick Finzer (trombone), Andrew Gutauskas (baritone), Rafal Sarnecki (guitar), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Desmond White(bass), Jimmy Macbride(drums), Camila Meza (voice). 
(Review by Dave Brownlow).

“That’s a computer” was the unkind, dismissive comment made by one of Lucas Pino’s professors at Juilliard Music School upon hearing the young saxophonist/composer/arranger’s work. “No Net Nonet” is the perfect riposte from Pino and his nine-piece ensemble and we can share their responses in the seven performances on this enjoyable, swinging and energetic CD.

Alex LoRe’s attractive Antiquity features the soaring, fleet-fingered altoist, amidst a pleasant-on-the-ear arrangement full of interest, changes of pace and carefully thought-out section work.
 The leader’s Horse of a Different Colour is a boppish blues featuring most of the band. Interestingly, Lucas contacted each of the soloists and asked them their favourite key to solo over! Talk about democracy in practice, LoRo, Finzer, Jodrell, Zakeski, Pino, Gutauskas and Sarnecki all get a chance to shine in their favourite key and style!

Film at 11 is a beautiful ballad from Pino, such lush orchestral textures from the six-piece front line, so reminiscent of Miles’ “Birth of the Cool” Band and Gil Evans’ arrangement of Moon Dreams

Look into My Eyes features the fluent trombone of Nick Finzer and Pino on tenor this time, in a quirky but irresistible melody with apposite band contributions of support. This is an exhortation by the writer for “human connection and eye contact rather than the impersonal brusqueness of many New Yorkers”

Pino’s fourth composition Frustrations features Camila Meza adding gorgeous wordless vocals to the aural textures of a somewhat impressionistic piece. This could have been written by Gil Evans himself, with rich background ensemble figures added to a tender bass clarinet solo from the leader. The “Birth of the Cool” re-imagined!

Guitarist Rafel Sarnecki provides Sueno de Gatos using words provided by poet Pablo Neruda. A complex, intricate theme introduces the vocal from Meza which has an up-tempo, slightly threatening, urgent feel, similar in some ways to Chick Corea’s Spain. A tenor solo and challenging band parts with drums to the fore sustain the mood.

A short Basketball Simulator 1000 – a theme song from a vintage Nintendo game – completes the album in a raucous, lively, ‘Township’ style bringing to mind “Brotherhood Of Breath” memories ….Surging bass lines from White and swinging, dynamic drumming from Macbride ensures this band moves with spirit.

On this evidence, Lucas Pino completely disproves his former professor’s thoughtless remarks providing a first-class, likeable, refreshing, creative display of jazz music in the contemporary idiom including ‘grooves’, harmony, swing, chord sequences and joy.
Dave B.

That’s A Computer is on OUTSIDE IN MUSIC OiM1814 and available now from lucaspino.com

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