Bebop Spoken There

Christian McBride: ''We knew back in the day that Emmet [Cohen] had it.'' (DownBeat July, 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

18680 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 544 of them this year alone and, so far this month (July 3) 8

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

July

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.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Sax on the Tyne @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £8.00. Feat. Sax on the Tyne & St George’s Community Choir.
Wed 08: Abbie Finn Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 09: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 09: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 10: Swing Manouche @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Olly Styles & Jacob Egglestone @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 10: Archipelago @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:00pm . New album fundraiser gig.
Fri 10: King Bees @ Rebel Yell, Nelson St., Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Chicago blues.

Sat 11: Spanish City Rollers @ Community Stage: Mouth of the Tyne Festival, Front Street, Tynemouth. 12 noon. Free.
Sat 11: Jazz Stage: Mouth of the Tyne Festival (o/s Tynemouth Priory), Tynemouth. Free. Vieux Carré Hot 4 (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Castillo Nuevo Trio (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Day 1/2.
Sat 11: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man + Adam Millington @ St John’s Chapel, Town Hall, Weardale DL13 1QF. 5:00pm (doors). £16.26., £10.84., £8.67., £5.42 (under 18).
Sat 11: Milne Glendinning Band @ Langley Tracks, Langley-on-Tyne. 5:30pm.
Sat 11: Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:30pm.
Sat 11: Karberry Big Band @ Forest Hall Social Club. 7:00pm. £7.00.
Sat 11: Ray Quinn: The King of Swing @ The Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.

Monday, May 20, 2019

CD Review: Carol Sudhalter Quartet - Live at Saint Peter's Church

Carol Sudhalter (baritone sax/flute/vocal - 5); Patrick Poladian (piano); Kevin Hailey (bass); Mike Campenni (drums).
(Review by Lance)

This one had slipped off my radar until I read a DownBeat review where it was allotted a paltry 2½ stars. I decided to dig it out of the pile and check if the live recording in St. Peter's Church, NY, was really that bad. I decided it wasn't.

Sudhalter, niece* of trumpeter and Beiderbecke biographer Richard,  is somewhat leaden at times on baritone yet still manages to tame the beast and the ideas are there if not always the fluidity. As the man from DB pointed out, Sudhalter is heard at her best on flute. The acoustics do her no favours on the vocal Colin Blues although, paradoxically, her flute solo on this number is one of the high spots of the album.

Valse Hot displays her technique on baritone. It reminds me of Harry Klein who was the British bari king until Ronnie Ross arrived who was the British bari king before John Surman arrived who was the British bari king before...

I digress, apart from the leader, Poladian is in top form with bass and drums on the money. Listen to the bass solo on Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You? and you'll see where I'm coming from.

Sudhalter - flute 5 stars; bari 3 stars; vocal 2 stars; recording engineer (or maybe the architect who designed the church without knowing there would be jazz held there a couple of hundred years later - he should have checked out Hoagy's Old Music Master!) 1 star. 
Lance
On a Misty night; Park Avenue Petite; Time Remembered; Funk in Deep Freeze; Colin Blues; Valse Hot; Fun in the Alley; Gee Baby Ain't I Good to You?; Luiza.
* Actually brother! See comment from Carol.

3 comments :

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the listening and for the wonderful review! Just wanted you to know that rich didn't have any nieces nor do I. He was my brother!

Carol Sudhalter said...

Hi Lance, this isn't really a comment, I just wanted to communicate with you and I don't know your email address. I agreed with a lot of what you said. Very astute! About the engineer, there wasn't one. I recorded the concert with a little Zoom H5 Gadget which I placed on the floor. Never thought that it would become a CD. So sorry about that. And the other thing I wanted to say was, did you have a chance to listen to Park Avenue petite? That to me exemplifies what I do best on baritone: the tone, the phrasing and good execution of a Melody which as you know is part of my family tradition! Best, carol
P.s. send youremail! I do play in UK from time to time.

Lance said...

Hi Carol,

Yes I did listen to Park Avenue Petite and I agree it is lovely. I should have mentioned it but space etc. Your disclosure that there wasn't an actual sound engineer paints a whole different picture on the balance. Thanks for the explanation.
You will find my email address at the foot of the left-hand column.
Lance.
PS: Do get in touch next time you are in UK.
PPS: I heard Richard playing in, I think, the early 1970's in Newcastle, UK, I think Susannah McCorkle was also on the bill.

Blog Archive