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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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

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.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

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

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

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: Ushaw Ensemble - Ushaw Ensemble Volume 1

Paul Edis (composer, piano, musical director); Graeme Wilson (tenor sax, bass clarinet, flute); Graham Hardy (trumpet, flugelhorn); Andy May (Northumbrian pipes); Rob Walker (drums, percussion); Paul Susans (double bass); Emma Fisk (violin)
(Review by Russell)

Ushaw Ensemble Volume 1 is the latest chapter in the evolving story of a commissioned suite of music which met with universal critical acclaim following performances at festivals and jazz club engagements. Composer Paul Edis assembled a septet comprising notable figures on the national jazz stage alongside respected Northumbrian piper Andy May to interpret his music celebrating the life and story of St Cuthbert. The CD serves as a document of the story so far..


Volume 1 is in two parts; the greater part (St. Cuthbert Suite) comprising eleven tracks, and a stand-alone composition (Sound of Achill) closing some fifty minutes or so of absorbing music. St. Cuthbert's Theme is stated by violinist Emma Fisk, a theme which recurs periodically throughout the suite. Andy May's haunting pipes (A Shepherd from Melrose) evoke an ancient, bleak, seventh-century Northumbrian landscape in which Cuthbert lived and worked. Abbeys, monasteries and religious retreats punctuate Edis' narrative yet faith, belief, call it what you will, isn't a prerequisite when listening to the music of the Ushaw Ensemble. 

Edis' writing succeeds in fusing folk, jazz and classical elements; Fisk and May etching Cuthbert's simple, at times solitary, existence, similarly double bassist Paul Susans (Solitude), Graham Hardy (trumpet and flugelhorn) making a connection between ancient and modern horn instruments, Graeme Wilson (tenor sax, bass clarinet and flute) given license to roam across the piece, in the process unleashing a ferocious, freely improvised tenor saxophone contribution in tandem with drummer Rob Walker (The Vikings, track 8), and the architect of the Ushaw Ensemble project, Paul Edis, incorporating myriad styles and influences including, as the composer acknowledges, Debussy, Ravel, Ellington and Messiaen. 

Ushaw Ensemble Volume 1 tells a story, the music is majestic, and, as the title suggests, there is Volume 2 to look forward to.   

Ushaw Ensemble Volume 1 should be considered an essential purchase. For further details visit: www.pauledis.co.uk  

The Ushaw Ensemble will perform the music of Volume 1 at a CD launch concert at Ushaw College, April 4 (tonight), 7:30pm.         

Russell

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