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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18018 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 339 of them this year alone and, so far, 17 this month (May 7).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Gregory Porter + Jo Harrop @ Newcastle City Hall. 7:30pm. Support act: Jo Harrop!

Tue 13: ???

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Recital (stage 2): Leah Kirk (voice) @ The Band Room, Music Studios, Assembly Lane, Newcastle University. 3:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 14: Jerron Paxton @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.20. Excellent country blues multi-instrumentalist.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. BACK IN BUSINESS, all welcome!

Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: The Greatest in Jazz - Guitarists.
Thu 15: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 15: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). John Garner & John Pope.

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Sophie Speed with the Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ Longframlington Memorial Hall. 7:00pm (doors). Tickets: £12.00. from 01665 570984.
Fri 16: Hot Club du Nord @ St Cuthbert’s Centre, Crook. 7:30pm. £10.00.
Fri 16: Peter Donegan & Anthony Donegan @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. ‘Lonnie Donegan - The Stories’.

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 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

Monday, June 03, 2019

CD Review: Tori Freestone Trio - El Mar de Nubes


Tori Freestone (tenor sax/violin/vocals)
Dave Manington (double bass); Tim Giles (drums 
(Review by Chris).

The second of my “Three Tenors” recent releases is the third album from this contemporary, UK trio led by one of our most inventive sax players. The playing is a circumspect contrast to the direct blowing of Partisans (and positively relaxing compared to Kamasi) but no less enjoyable for that!   A closer comparison might be with some of Trish Clowes’ recent playing but while there is abundant imagination and innovation here, Freestone’s all-acoustic trio don’t travel as widely in idiom or dynamics. If you’re looking for hard blowing, driving bop, funk, or even swing, this isn't for you, but this chordless trio delivers truckloads of expressive, fresh and intricate music nonetheless.   

The album opens with El Mar de Nubes (Sea of Clouds - the album inspired by a stay in Tenerife) and  introduces a distinctive, recurring style of sax interplaying with subtle drums and bass, exploring and teasing a repeated motif, stretching emphasis and tempo.  The second track, Hiding Jekyll takes this method further, twisting a phrase in all sorts of interesting directions, with bass and drums seamlessly intertwining and reinforcing. At first hearing, I found the approach a little mechanical, but as so often, it took me a couple of plays to appreciate the clever, nuanced lines. 

There is great diversity throughout the album, with Shenandoah first receiving a breathy and sparse treatment, with a contrasting reprise closing the album seeing Freestone switching to violin and singing a more familiar version.    
  
Hasta la Vista is a showcase for bass and drums (much more here than mere “rhythm section!), starting with Tim Giles’ “time games”, all three players trading licks, then alternating with more relaxed passages, with some free blowing between.  El Camino by contrast is slower, ruminating and wistful, played over loose, bubbling and splashing percussion (no time, no changes – at least not obvious to my ears!).  

A very “non-standard” Beatrice starts slowly with lovely meandering sax gliding effortlessly through the changes, gradually gathers pace as Giles swaps brushes for sticks, dabbles with a swing for a while, and reaches a full-tilt climax.

My favourite track, Los Indianos, puts percussion to the fore, with a memorable staccato sax theme giving space to Giles’ agile and lively (calypso?) lines 
Altogether, some very fine, intelligent and musical playing: worth a short trip to see them on tour June 13 @ - Newcastle Arts Centre Details.
Chris Kilsby 

Available on Whirlwind Recordings. Buy/see

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