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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17680 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 23 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Jan. 9).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Tue 14: Zoë Gilby Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 15: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 15: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 15: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 15: Hot Club of Heaton @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘third Wednesday in the month’ session. TBC.

Thu 16: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 17: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 17: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 17: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 17: Joe Steels Trio w. Graham Hardy @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. (inc. a welcome drink & table reservation). Book at: www.drinks@thepele.co.uk. A ‘Jazz at the Pele’ promotion.
Fri 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 18: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 18: Alter Ego + Jamie Toms/Graham Don Duo @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 18: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick TD15 1AS. 7:30pm. Free. Album launch gig.
Sat 18: Delta Prophets @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 21: ???

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 12, 2018

Jessica Radcliffe - Remembrance - Press release

Steve Crocker kindly observed that we at BSH do reviews rather than cutting and pasting press releases which, 99% of the time, is correct. 
However, on this occasion because the subject matter is so emotive and on all the front pages, rather than express my own feelings on the album I’ll leave it to the Ubuntu PR Dept. to describe the November 30 release (followed by an album launch at Pizza Express, Soho, on December 2)
Lance.

(Press release).

As 2018 draws to a close, vocalist and composer Jessica Radcliffe releases her debut album, Remembrance, marking the end of the First World War centenary. Based on her in-depth study of the devastating event through music, poetry, reports, letters and other historical documents, Radcliffe’s original compositions and arrangements create a moving tribute. 

Radcliffe began composing the music for The Remembrance Project in her final year at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. “At the beginning of the WWI centenary period in 2014, I realised that I knew little about the conflict, and, having enjoyed studying the poetry of the Great War for A Level English, challenged myself to compose some pieces for my composition module,” explains Radcliffe. The pieces ‘Remembrance’, ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, ‘There’s A Long, Long Trail A-Winding’. ‘Over The Top’ and ‘And When They Ask Us’, made up Radcliffe’s final performance, for which she received a First.  The album was completed following an emotional visit to the Western Front. “I needed to walk in their footsteps and see all of these places I’d been reading about for a year come to life. I wanted to present something entirely focused on the humanitarian struggles during the conflict.”

Remembrance draws on a range of influences and styles form all aspects of Radcliffe’s musical journey as well as some of the most poignant literature from the conflict. ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’, one of Radcliffe’s favourite poems by Wilfred Owen for the strikingly onomatopoeic language is a directed group improvisation; for the title track Radcliffe re-harmonised The Last Poet and set a section of Robert Laurence Binyon’s poem For the Fallen and the music echoes the music of the classical composers of the time, Vaughan Williams and Butterworth; ‘I Would Rather Be A Rebel’ is dedicated to the struggle of Emeline Pankhurst with lyrics selected from her most famous speeches and the finale is taken from the musical Oh What A Lovely War! “I included it in the set to acknowledge the fact that there is such a rich heritage of works on and about the conflict," says Radcliffe.  “There are still so many lessons to learn and as time goes on, new relevance and poignancies can be drawn.”
Jessica Radcliffe (vocals): Tom Dennis (trumpet); Sam James (piano); Joe downard (bass); Will Glaser (drums) + Mark Lockheart (tenor/bass clarinet).

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