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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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

Saturday, April 13, 2019

CD Review: Steve Garrett - Discover and Endure

Steve Garrett (guitar)
(Review by Hugh C)

Steve Garrett was born in London and after a working lifetime as an Earth Scientist travelling across the UK, Antarctica and North America, now calls Scotland home.  His new album of solo electric guitar music, Discover and Endure is “inspired by stories and experience of landscape, exploration and human endurance”.

The first and title track, Discover and Endure, is inspired by the RRS Discovery expedition of 1901-04.  A slow steady beat mirrors the footsteps of the participants trudging on, hauling their sledges; different characters from the expedition feature over the footsteps.  As Charles Turley (1914) wrote of the voyages of Captain Scott “for ninety-three days they had plodded over a vast snow-field and ...striven and endured to the limit of their powers”.  

Summer River is more melodic, with a subtle rhythmicity inspired by the sunlight shimmering over the waters of the River Dee on the edge of Cairngorms National Park.  Lament for the Children is a piping tune from the piobaireachd* tradition, written by Padruig Mor MacCrimmon and dedicated to those who have endured the loss of a child.  There is a distinct drone element throughout, with a slow lament over the top.  Midwinter Gathering reflects the Southern Polar tradition of a celebration mirroring Christmas and Hogmanay in the northern hemisphere.  The tune is a reel with a background loop representing the “lively and slightly chaotic footfall of ceilidh dancers” - no doubt getting progressively more chaotic as the time progresses!

Gustav Holst’s Egdon Heath (at over nine minutes the longest track on the CD) caught Garrett’s attention at an early age in primary school.  In this piece, Garret employs a variety of styles and evokes the Dorset heathland, where he has previously lived and worked.  Lassie Lie Near Me (words by Robert Burns) is a folk song set over a minimalist pattern.  Cliff Top Storm reflects Garrett’s (and no doubt others’) experience of getting caught out when camping in extreme conditions (in this case in Goosenecks State Park in Utah).  The piece is a series of variations on a theme over a desert drum beat.  The explorers end up in Black Sail Hut – perhaps familiar to some as a rather isolated Youth Hostel in Ennerdale in the Lake District. 

The CD reflects the previous musical influences and experience of the performer with elements of jazz, folk, rock, and choral music – all of which feature one way or another in Garrett’s portfolio.  The “jazz” element is perhaps limited (but definitely there) and eclipsed by the “folk” element.  Ultimately though, what is delivered is all music reflecting the flexibility and capability of the guitar as an instrument.  This is a good product and professionally delivered by the artist.  The CD was launched on April 5 at RSS Discovery, Dundee, and is available from Birnam and Amazon; downloads are available from the usual sources and the album can be streamed from Spotify or Apple Music. 

Steve Garrett will be giving lunchtime performances at artSpace@StMarks (Fringe Venue 215) as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

More information on the artist here

Hugh C

*What is Piobaireachd?

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