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

18573 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 437 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 28) 91

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

May

Sun 31: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 31: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 31: Sinfonia of London: Tea Dance @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. Free. John Wilson ensemble performing on the concourse. Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George & Ira Gershwin & more.
Sun 31: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 31: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £3.76.
Sun 31: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 31: Ben Haskins Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00.

June

Mon 01: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 01: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Mon 01: CW Stoneking @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Blues, Americana.

Tue 02: Mark Williams Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 02: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Postmodern Jukebox @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Thu 04: 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 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 05: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05-Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne. Screenings TBC.
Fri 05: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: House of the Black Gardenia: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). House of the Black Gardenia evening performance. Day 1/3.
Fri 05: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band + IKS Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.00. Big band double bill. IKS Big Band (Germany).
Fri 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00

Sat 06: Struggle Buggy @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Dry Water Arts, Amble. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £15.00.
Sat 06: IKS Big Band: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). IKS Big Band evening performance. Day 2/3.
Sat 06: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Northumbrian Revival, West Benridge Farm, nr. Morpeth NE61 3RZ. 7:30-9:30pm. £21.47 (£2.77. child). 82nd D-Day anniversary event.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 06: FILM: The Magic City: Birmingham According to Sun Ra @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 9:30pm. £7.00., £5.00. Dir. Guillaume Maupin & Pablo Guarise.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

CD Review: Ethan Iverson Quartet with Tom Harrell - Common Practice

Tom Harrell (trumpet); Ethan Iverson (piano); Ben Street (bass); Eric McPherson (drums).
(Review by Lance)

Maybe I shall hear it Sunday,
Maybe Monday, maybe not
Still I'm sure to hear it one day
Maybe Tuesday will be my good news day.

As it happened, Friday turned out to be my good news day...

Over the years I've been impressed by the volume of CDs issued by Herr Eicher on his ECM label most of which have received rave reviews in DownBeat, Jazzwise - even within these pages - and yet, somehow, Cupid's arrow has, in the main, landed short of my heart - until now that is.

The arrival of an ECM package automatically puts my brain into delegating mode and, for once, that delegated reviewer turns out to be me!

Recorded live at NYC's Village Vanguard in 2017, this is as close to perfection as you'll get. Only two originals which is indeed a rarity for an ECM album (paradoxically, the previous ECM issue reviewed by Chris also contains some standards) but, so what? Let's hear what guys can do with other peoples music - you don't compose a tune you can't do something with yourself!

My adaptation of Ira Gershwin's words are no coincidence as the first number is, in fact, The Man I Love and Harrell handles Ira's brother George's melody with ease. The tone is round and full - like Chet Baker with balls - and the lyricism comparable. I can see why our man Noel Dennis digs both Tom and Chet, he sort of draws them together.

Wee, which if memory serves me right also sails under the title of Allen's Alley - and Google says I am right - is a bebop belter. Fats Navarro guides Tom down the alley before launching him into the brave new world that was.

Every trumpet player who ever lived has had a crack at I Can't Get Started and few, if any, have surpassed Bunny Berigan's 1937 version. Tom doesn't try, instead he offers a laid back reading before giving way to some reflective piano from Iverson.

Iverson, needless to say, is mega effective behind the trumpet ace. His dark chords beneath Harrell's take on Sentimental Journey give it an almost Monkian feel.

Out of Nowhere bounces along merrily and Polka Dots and Moonbeams gets deserved vocal applause from the audience. The album notes draw parallels between  this one and the versions by Lester Young - the virtues of spareness and song are in both. Of course, it's wise not to take too many liberties with a song about 'a pug-nosed dream' otherwise you might end up becoming pug-nosed yourself! 

All the Things You Are; I'm Getting Sentimental Over You and I Remember You complete the GASbook material and Iverson's two originals - Philadelphia Creamer and Jed From Teaneck - provide some blues to make this album just about perfect. Bass and drums don't seek the spotlight, they didn't need to - their presence was felt.
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