Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 2026)

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

18656 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 520 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 25) 72

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

From This Moment On

June

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 02: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 02: De’Sean Jones & Blaque Dynamite feat. Urban Art Orchestra @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). De’Sean Jones (MD, tenor sax); Blaque Dynamite (Mike Mitchell, drums); Jamie Murray (drums) with UAO horns & strings.
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.
Thu 02: Howlin’ Mat @ Newcastle Arts centre. 7:30pm. Free. Acoustic

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: Paul Donnelly Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 03: Martin Taylor @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Taylor (solo guitar).

Sat 04: Spats Langham’s Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00. Darlington New Orleans Jazz Club.
Sat 04: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:00-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sat 04: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £27.50. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Take the ‘A’ Train to Summertime: From Melody to Masterclass. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 05: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Sun 05: Michael Woods @ Cycle Hub, Quayside, Ouseburn. 1:30-2:30pm & 3:15-4:00pm. Free. Acoustic blues guitar. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Lydia Rae Quintet @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Rae (vocals); Sam Lightwing (alto sax, tenor sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 05: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 05: Storytellers Street Band @ Ouseburn Woodland, Ouseburn. 5:00-6:00pm. Free. An Ouseburn Festival event.
Sun 05: Gerry Richardson’s Big Idea @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 05: Jambone @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:15-9:45pm. Free but ticketed.

Mon 06: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 06: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 07: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:30pm. Free.
Tue 07: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Ben Lawrence (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Thursday, April 04, 2019

CD Review: The David Berkman Sextet (plus guests) - Six of One

Dayna Stephens (tenor sax/EWI); Adam Kolker (soprano sax/bass clarinet); Billy Drewes (alto sax/ clarinet); David Berkman (piano); Chris Lightcap (bass); Kenneth Salters (drums) + Rogerio Boccato (perc #2) Tim Armacost (tenor sax on #1 #5 #7),
(Review by Dave Brownlow).

Pianist/composer/arranger/bandleader David Berkman is a well-known recording artist on the New York scene as a leader, a sideman for many big names (Sonny Stitt, Tom Farrell, Cecil McBee) and as a teacher at Universities and Jazz Camps in the U.S, South America, Asia and Europe. Here, he performs 10 tracks with his regular sextet (plus guests) in a programme of original music having a wide spectrum of influences. The band has worked together for many years and Berkman, like Duke Ellington before, likes to write for his ensemble with individual players in mind.


Blowing Smoke (dedicated to Manhattan’s Smoke Jazz Club) is a relaxed swinger in the ‘contemporary’ style with lively solos from the leader, and Armacost and Stephens on tenors. Cynical Episode has tonal variety provided by Stephens on EWI (Electronic Wind Instrument), Kolker on bass clarinet and Drewes on alto. An urgent, minor theme leads to dramatic, tense solos all round, with background figures and percussion adding to the atmosphere. Blue Poles uses soprano, alto & tenor saxes in a medium-tempo opening leading to solos in double-tempo from five of the sextet in an intense workout. Billy is a jolly tune named after easy-going Dewes. The band easily copes with a complex, chordal, rhythmic structure in a mercurial fashion. Sincerely – a ballad featuring Armacost and Dewes is played in a fluent, mobile manner. Three And A Half Minutes is an attractive, flowing theme where Stephens and Kolker improvise together following the leader’s jagged piano solo.

Kickstopper, a straight-ahead ‘burner’ again in contemporary style, features soprano, alto and tenor saxes over ambiguous ‘Tyner-esque’ chords. Shitamachi  (Downtown in Japanese) is for the old section of Tokyo, has some elegant, interweaving lines from tenor, clarinet, and bass clarinet, providing variety before a drum ‘thrash’ from Salters. Restoration is a cleverly arranged song which is slightly ‘gospel-tinged’ with frequent key changes – the leader’s piano shines here… Rain, rain has the clarinets to the fore in a wistful, slightly melancholic framework. Bassist Lightcap has his moments before Berkman brings the CD to its conclusion in a flowing statement.
Dave B

The David Berkman Sextet (Plus Guests) “Six Of One” is available from April 5 on Palmetto Records from: davidberkman.com.
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