Total Pageviews

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

17972 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 293 of them this year alone and, so far, 49 this month (April 22).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

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.

Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Bradford (drums).
Sun 27: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Paul Susans, Russ Morgan.
Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: JustKing Jones @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.50. JustKing Jones (alto sax, soprano sax); Jordan Williams (piano); Jason Clotter (bass); Malcolm Charles (drums). Ace NYC outfit!
Sun 27: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 27: Swing Manouche @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00. Tickets from 01665 711388.
Sun 27: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Xenopoulos, Edis, Ken Marley, Russ Morgan.

Mon 28: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: ???

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

Thursday, April 04, 2019

CD Review: Sokratis Sinopoulos -Metamodal

Sokratis Sinopoulos (Lyra); Yann Keerim (Piano); Dimitris Tsekouras (Double Bass); Dimitris Emmanouil (Drums). 
(Review by Chris)

The second of three ECM releases in March from the southern shores of Europe. You have to hand it to him, not only has ECM’s Manfred Eicher scoured Europe from North to South in his quest for the new well/spring of world music, but he is also not scared of unfamiliar jazz instrumentation! The bandoneon of Dominic Miller’s latest release (reviewed here on BSH) is outdone (not least in age) by the Cretan lyra played by contemporary master Sinopoulos, recorded in Athens last July. Too hot to have been Eicher’s summer holiday I imagine.

The lyra, which dates back to Byzantine times, is a tiny (29 cm strings) viol played upright on the lap, with three strings played with a bow, but stopped by sideways pressure from the fingernails rather than pinning against the fingerboard as for a violin. My Greek colleague tells me it is the mainstay of southerly Greek folk music, fuelling dancing for millennia, but here undergoing a rather different treatment in Sinopoulous’ hands. 

He studied with Ross Daly, a Brit who has spent 35 years in Crete reviving and redefining the lyra, before forming this quartet with debut album Eight Winds for ECM in 2014.  To my ears, the plaintive cry of the lyra, in a folk framework with a classic chamber jazz trio, recalls the exceptional Polish jazz violin star, Adam Baldych (who has just released his latest work on rival label ACT), but without Baldych’s range and extravagant flourishes.

This album takes the quartet forward with confidence, aiming to explore and extend modal music. All good jazzers will be familiar with a few modes, but we should remember that the Greeks invented it all a long time ago!  Sinopoulos says he aims here to not move beyond modes but to work through them...synthesising something new on the way through the centrepiece tracks of the album:  Metamodal I, II and III.

The opener, Lament, is aptly named, with the lyra weaving a slow and sad line above piano and bass. Track two, Metamodal I – Liquid, has a similarly paced intro, but the abrupt entry of the percussion lends more tempo and drama, over a faster, nimble bass line.  The third track, Transition, is shorter - a light, catchy number with swooping lead on lyra, leading into the 10 minutes of Metamodal II – Illusions

This again starts slowly, and in exploratory style, with sparse piano interleaved with the plangent lyra, changing halfway through to a faster section with all four players fully interlocking.

Metamodal III – Dimensions opens with ponderous piano chords, joined by first the lyra, then the bass, working through modal sequences, like an elegant practice set of arpeggios and scales.  This eventually relaxes into a looser amble through spacey chords under beautiful lyrical melodies from the lyra.

Walking starts with a lively repeated piano figure, and runs at pace joined by a lyra tune which wouldn’t be out of place in Celtic folk. This gives way to a middle section of slower, more modal musing and closes with a reprise of the earlier, jaunty jig. 

Dawn is another subtle exploration of intricate melodic lines over a delicate, rolling wash of piano and percussion, frequently returning to a lovely motif interspersed with freer passages.

Red Thread has perhaps the most languorous and lovely line of the many on the album, sitting over relaxed piano. Not obvious how this mood relates to the “red thread” Theseus used to escape from the labyrinth on Crete after killing the Minotaur! 

The final track, Mnemosyne, is a short collective improvisation, which Eicher encourages all his artists to attempt, with different degrees of success. The title means "remembrance, memory" but, I have to say, it was rather forgettable!

Overall, an intriguing and sophisticated album of chamber jazz with a distinctive Greek flavour from the modal framework and lyra’s yearning sound. The unusual feel draws attention away from Sinopoulos’ extraordinary gift for melodic invention. I for one will look out for future developments from this unlikely direction. Could be consumed on its own, or in the background on a sunny day, relaxing over an ouzo with ice….
Chris Kilsby
Release date: 15.03.2019 ECM 2631

No comments :

Blog Archive