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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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 09: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session now monthly, next one Thursday 2nd Feb, then first Thursday in the month thereafter.

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: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.

Sat 11: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 11: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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, May 30, 2019

CD Review: Tierney Sutton Band - Screenplay


Tierney Sutton (vocals); Christian Jacob (piano); Serge Merlaud (guitar); Kevin Axt (electric bass); Trey Henry (acoustic bass); Ray Brinker (drums) Alan Bergman (vocals track 12); all arrangements by Sutton, Henry, Jacob, Axt and Brinker.
(Review by Ann Alex)

Well, I think I may now have been promoted to blog detective for BSH! Unlike most of the albums sent for review which come in lavishly packaged jewel cases with notes that require 20:20 vision to decipher, this promo CD came with only a cardboard insert showing a list of tunes, arrangers and some featured musicians. I listed the musicians, thinking this was a big band of unnamed personnel. On finding a website I discovered it was actually a sextet, led by female singer Tierney Sutton, whom I had supposed to be a man. So much for my feminist credentials. And what a fine singer indeed! This may well be my CD of the Month, or even of the Year.

Ms Sutton hails from Omaha, USA and has already had 8 Grammy nominations as well as finishing only 2 votes behind Diana Krall in the 2018 DownBeat Critics Poll. She trained at Berklee College of Music and is a jazz educator as well as an arranger. Previous CDs have included one based on the music of Sting. The band wrote the music for the Clint Eastwood film Sully. This is their ninth CD.

All the tunes are songs from films, so we have the music of composers such as Michel Legrand, Paul Simon and Stephen Sondheim. But each tune is skilfully arranged as jazz, so well that it's hard to believe that they were ever played any other way. The singing is beautiful, Ms Sutton really knows how to use her voice as an instrument, and each song tells a story, acted out well. It goes without saying that the musicians are stellar. It is impossible to convey the quality of the music in print so I'll mention some favourite tracks, and list all the tracks and the films that they came from.

Calling You and Moon River are two songs woven together seamlessly, slow and contemplative.

I've Got No Strings cleverly becomes a strong, feminist song, sung slowly to a military beat from the drums.

If I Only Had a Brain is sung saucily with word play and features the music of both basses.

Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend is perky with voice and drums. I didn't realise how amusing the lyrics are, e.g. 'It's then that those louses go back to their spouses'.

Track list: The Windmills of Your Mind (The Thomas Crown Affair); Moon River/Calling You (Breakfast At Tiffany's/Baghdad Cafe); On a Clear Day (On A Clear Day You Can See Forever)
What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life (The Happy Ending); I've Got No Strings (Pinocchio);
If I Only Had A Brain (The Wizard Of Oz); The Sound Of Silence (The Graduate); Goodbye For Now (Reds); Diamonds Are a Girls Best Friend (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes); Hopelessly Devoted To You (Grease); You're The One That I Want (Grease); How Do You Keep The Music Playing (Best Friends); Ev'ry Now And Then (not the pop song, Mulholland Falls); It Might Be You (Tootsie); Arrow (Sully).

Screenplay is now available - see www.tierneysutton.com
Ann Alex

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