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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. 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

Monday, November 05, 2018

CD Review: Sarathy Korwar and the UPAJ Collective - My East is Your West .

(Review by Steve T)
Bit of a blindfold test with no accompanying notes, so only scant info on the disc to go on, followed up with a good old google. 
Track listing includes The Creator Has a Master Plan and Journey in Satchidananda from Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane respectively, so no surprises there, with both artists part of the Coltrane oeuvre, where eastern music, religion and philosophy were so prominent.
Mind Ecology was instantly recognisable and swiftly identified from the John McLaughlin/ Shakti masterpiece Natural Elements, so another piece in the puzzle, and always welcome to see the Mclaughlin star in the ascendancy.  


Without liner notes to check on the proper terms, there's a thorough mixing of Indian and western instruments, including acoustic guitar, flute, tablas, Indian percussion, drum kit, (electric) bass (I think), piano and sitar. There's also quite a lot of sax, but I'm not always certain whether it's tenor or alto (or both), and at one point I think there's a bass clarinet but later I think there's a baritone; maybe there is or maybe they were both the same thing, The baritone sound is reminiscent of early Mothers and I think it entirely consistent that a musician would listen to both McLaughlin and Zappa (who toured together but later had a very public disagreement). There's also a drone which is more or less a constant in Indian Music.  

Applause confirms it's live and Google that it was recorded at the Church of Sound in London. The two-part piece that ends the first disc/set is an ancient raga called Makauns

The second set/disc features more of the same, but with some konocal singing and perhaps even some scant lyrics. Earth starts with a slow bass which reminds me of the Temptations’ Papa Was a Rolling Stone throughout its almost fifteen minutes. I thought this might be another McLaughlin piece but have found no trace. There's also a track named Haij after an annual pilgrimage to Mecca, a Ravi Shankar piece called Mishrank and an encore written by Don Cherry called Utopia and Visions, which more or less fits with the general direction of the music.

Sarathy Korwar is an American born percussionist/composer, raised in India, where he trained in classical tabla, but now lives in London.    
   
The album will be out on November 16 and if you have any interest whatsoever in Indian Music or the fusion of Jazz with Indian Music, you really must check it out.

Steve T.
Sarathy Korwar - tabla, drum kit 
Domenico Angarano - double bass, electric bass 
Aravindhan Baheerathan - bansuri (flute) 
Giuliano Modarelli - acoustic guitar 
Al MacSween - keys 
Tamar Osborn - baritone sax, flute 
Jasdeep Singh Degun - sitar 
John Ball - santoor, tabla 
Jesse Bannister - alto sax 
Aditya Prakash - vocals 
B C Manjunath - mridangam, kanjira 

1 comment :

S Tulip said...

So no tenor or bass clarinet. Not too surprised.

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