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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 02: Lauren Bush: The Jazz Singer’s Toolkit @ The Pele, Corbridge. 1:00-4:00pm. Vocalist Lauren Bush with pianist Jamil Sheriff presents a jazz singing workshop. £40.00. (inc. evening concert, see below). Registration required for workshop: www.laurenbushjazz.com. All ability levels welcome.
Wed 02: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 02: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 2:30-4:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Wed 02: Lauren Bush & Jamil Sheriff @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00-9:00pm. £10.00. Concert performance. Tickets: www.laurenbushjazz.com.
Wed 02: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 02: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. POSSIBLE CANCELLATION. See website for updates: www.theglobenewcastle.bar.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

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

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

CD Review: Peter Eldridge and Kenny Werner – Somewhere


Peter Eldridge (vocal); Kenny Werner (piano); Matt Aronoff (bass); Yoron Israel (drums) + 20 piece string orchestra conducted by Eugene Friesen.
(Review by James Henry)

"Somewhere" is a gentle, soothing offering from Peter Eldridge, Kenny Werner and a string orchestra, the culmination of an idea shared by  Eldridge and Werner that began about 10 years ago.  It would be terribly easy to combine Eldridge’s crooning baritone voice, Werner’s gentle piano fills and a string orchestra to recreate Frank Sinatra or Nat King Cole: thankfully, this CD doesn’t seek to do this. "Somewhere" is a fresh interpretation of song, strings, and soothing, gentle jazz; it is an antidote to the troubled times in which we live.   

Kenny Werner is an accomplished jazz pianist, composer and educator, possibly best known for his seminal book “Effortless Mastery, Liberating the Master Musician Within”, the closest thing I know to a jazz self-improvement book.   Peter Eldridge is a crooner of the old sort, with a wonderful vocal range, and a glorious deep lower register.  Werner and Eldridge are faculty members at Berklee Music College in Boston, and draw on other Berklee musicians for this album, notably the cellist Eugene Friesen who conducts the 20 piece string orchestra, itself recruited from the Berklee World Strings.

The album is for the most part a collection of Werner and Eldridge originals, but with one or two more familiar pieces. You Don’t Know Me is worlds away from the standard made famous by Ray Charles, and brings the best out of Eldridge’s deep baritone.  I’m so Glad You’re Mine is jazzy in a minor way.   That Which Can’t Be Explained has a more theatrical feel and juxtaposes Eldridge’s lyric and a complex string motif. Autumn in Three, a Werner/Eldridge original, swings and swirls seasonally in waltz time, with an evocative string arrangement and a nice rhythm section feature, bringing drummer Yoron Israel and bassist Matt Aronoff to the fore.

The mood slows and mellows with Minds of their Own, setting Eldridge’s words to Ivan Lin’s tune, and a midnight, clubby feel. Less Than Lovers, an Eldridge tune, is lifted by an Aaron Copeland-like string arrangement from Werner.  Difficult takes Eldridge’s music into territory normally occupied by Tom Lehrer, but with a dark, infatuated lyric.

Ballad for Trane features an extended tenor saxophone solo from George Garzone (another Berklee faculty member), and then we return to more familiar ground with a medley of Somewhere (Bernstein/Sondheim) and A Time for Love (Mancini). Untitled Lament (Werner) has an elegiac feel and we finish with a gentle lullaby,  Day is Done (Prayer for Diego), co-written by Eldridge and one of his song writing students Mitchell Proctor. Unexpectedly and splendidly, this sleepy song morphs into rocking bowed cello solo, before gently playing out.

Peter Eldridge and Kenny Werner’s Somewhere is very different, very soothing and very good.  Besides offering a safe place to the listener, there is a pleasing depth, which rewards multiple listenings.    
 James H

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