Bebop Spoken There

Ron Carter quoting Sonny Rollins: ''What we call jazz - that's keeping the world in equilibrium. I don't care what kind of music you like out here today. It all comes from jazz.'' (DownBeat August, 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

18818 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 682 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Aug. 20) 51.

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

August

Sun 23: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Royal Quays Marina, North Shields. 2:00-4:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free..
Sun 23: Blue Note Quintet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00..
Sun 23: Timmy Allan Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 24: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 25: Michael Young Trio @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 27: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 27: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 27: 58 Jazz Collective @ The Blacksmith’s Arms, Stranton, Hartlepool. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 27: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00.

Fri 28: Graham Hardy Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 29: Brian Jackson @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:30pm (doors). £32.00.

Friday, June 28, 2019

CD Review: Mikael Mani Trio - Bobby


Mikael Mani Asmundsson (guitar); Skuli Sverrison (bass); Magnus Trygvason Eliassen (drums and vibraphone); David Daviddson (vibraphone track 9).
(Review by Steve T)

Any jazz musician knows they have a limited audience. Anybody who's played with Miles or with somebody who's played with Miles, can maybe add a nought to their sales. Guitarists also have a bit of an advantage, as guitarists - of which there are many - don't observe the usual musical boundaries.

It can also help if you can draw on another cultural community like football, cars, the Beatles - chess?

We'll never know, had I not known in advance that this was about a famous chess game in Iceland, whether the music would have evoked thoughts of that particular beautiful game or that particular landscape, with its mountains coming out of the sky and standing there. The musicians are Icelandic and the connection with a country I studied during year one of my degree could have been a conduit to get me into it, but wasn't.

None of this tells us much about the music, which is fine. He's a great guitarist with a great sound and great technique, and there's nothing wrong with it, though they may have preferred me to hate it. Apparently, there's vibraphone on the album, which I missed during the three occasions I played it, but I'll have to take their word for it.   
Steve T.

4 comments :

Lance said...

En passant, the chess match that inspired the album was the 1972 World Championship held in Iceland where the American Bobby Fischer defeated the Russian Boris Spassky, over a series of games, 12½ - 8½. The match held the world enthralled and resulted in books, movies and now an album as a reminder of that summer when, overnight, everyone was for a time a chess aficionado and no doubt the game inspired a few potential Grandmasters!

Patti said...

Maybe Grandmaster Flash even?? He of the famous White Lines ditty ......

Steve T said...

Thanks Lance, but still not getting it.

Lance said...

One of the reasons I remember the event was because, at the time, I was with the Newcastle Big Band in San Sebastian and even the Spanish papers were reporting it and Charlie Carmichael and I were also into chess. I could beat him at chess but when it came to tenor playing he was the knight and I a mere pawn (neither of us, however, were bishops on that gig!)

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