Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

June

Sat 20: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer Festival, Corbridge. 5:00-6:00pm.
Sat 20: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 20: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Trinity Church, Gosforth, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. NCRO w. guests Dean Stockdale & Nick Ward.

Sun 21: From Lagos to Longbenton: Unity in the Community @ Sunderland Minster. From 1:30pm. Free. A multi-bill Unity in the Community event, inc. From Lagos to Longbenton.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio w. Graham Hardy.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 22: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 25: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 25: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Forgotten Ones & Any Quintets.
Thu 25: Edgar Ho Trio @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free. Brilliant alto sax, piano & double bass trio. Unmissable!
Thu 25: 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 26: Finn-Keeble Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9:00.
Fri 26: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 26: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 26: Clark Tracey @ Live Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Newcastle Jazz Festival. £26.00. Day 1/2.

Thursday, September 12, 2019

CD Review: Binker Golding - Abstractions of Reality Past and Incredible Feathers


Binker Golding (tenor sax); Joe Armon-Jones (piano); Daniel Casimir (double bass); Sam Jones (drums)
(Review by Russell)

Binker Golding continues to carry all before him. The saxophonist's partnership with Moses Boyd has elevated the Londoner to, at least in the jazz world, stratospheric heights. If Kamasi Washington is the current big noise in the States, Golding is making one hell of a racket this side of the Atlantic. 

Abstractions of Reality Past and Incredible Feathers is Golding's latest recording and it comes courtesy of the Binker Golding Quartet or, as the bandleader appears to favour, the Binker Golding band. Regular sparring partner Boyd isn't involved, the quartet's drummer is Sam Jones, Joe Armon-Jones plays piano and Daniel Casimir is Golding's double bass anchor.


This new Gearbox Records' recording continues Golding's preferred method of putting out no-edit material (studio or live album), warts 'n' all. All seven tracks are Golding compositions, the production credit is his, similarly 'art direction amd inlay design'. Echoes of Coltrane's Giant Steps, seventies' funk-to-fusion, hip-hop and hard-blowin' tenor sax are all in the mix over some forty six or so minutes. Pianist Joe Armon-Jones could be the next 'big thing'. Busy on the London scene, in-demand Armon-Jones matches Golding pound-for-pound and the bass and drums - Casimir and Sam Jones - could be thought of as the latter-day Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones.

Coltrane, Brecker, the influences are there but, make no mistake, Binker Golding is his own man.

Abstractions of Reality Past and Incrdible Feathers is available now in CD format on Gearbox Records (GB1555). The album, with a gatefold cover, is also available on 180g vinyl. The album launch at Ronnie Scott's on Wednesday 18 is a sell out (Sarah Tandy replaces Joe Armon-Jones). Golding will be touring the album without the services of Joe Armon-Jones as the pianist has a fractured wrist.    
Russell

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