Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Francis Tulip: ''Music speaks louder than words''. (Jazzwise, June 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

17,550 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 514 of them this year alone and, so far, 92 this month (June 28).

From This Moment On ...

JULY 202

Sat 12: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 12 noon. Free. Vieux Carré Jazzmen (12 noon); Rendezvous Jazz (1:00pm); Mississippi Dreamboats (2:00pm); Classic Swing (3:00pm); Abbie Finn Trio (4:00pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sat 12: Making Music Seminar: Latin American Music v. Music of Latin America @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 1:00pm. £15.00. (£5.00. online). Jason Holcomb, Alix Shepherd & Carlos Luis Rivera.
Sat 12: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 12: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ Lovaine Community Garden, North Shields. 7:00pm (doors 6:40pm). £6.00. Limited places, booking essential (via the Community Garden website). BYOF&D.
Sat 12: Hot Club du Nord @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. Hall Two.
Sat 12: Sleep Suppressor @ Repas 7 by Night, Berwick. 8:00pm.
Sat 12: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle.8:00pm. Free. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 13: Jazz Stage @ Mouth of the Tyne Festival. From 11:00am. Free. Trilogy of Four (11:00am); East Coast Jazzmen (12:10pm); Delta Prophets Trio (1:20pm); House of the Black Gardenia (2:30pm); Mouth of the Tyne All Stars (3:40pm). Stage adjacent to Tynemouth Priory.
Sun 13: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Sele, Hexham. 12 noon. Free. ‘The Bandstand Sessions’.
Sun 13: Julie Dexter @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:30pm (doors). £20.00. ‘The Cluny Matinee Jazz Club’.
Sun 13: ’58 Jazz Collective, Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Bishop Auckland Town Hall. 2:00pm. Tea Dance. SOLD OUT! A Durham Brass Festival event.
Sun 13: Ferg Kilsby @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Kilsby (trumpet, flugelhorn); Luis Verde (alto sax); Ben Lawrence (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 13: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 13: Sloth Racket @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. JNE.

Mon 14: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ Hardwick Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Mon 14: Brass Bash @ The Story, Mount Oswald, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.

Tue 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Sluice. Tel: 0191 237 3697. 12:30pm. ‘July Jazz Barbecue’. Tickets: £15.00.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ Hackworth Park, Shildon, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Brass Bash @ The Witham, Barnard Castle, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Tue 15: Julian Lage Trio @ 1856 Exchange, North Shields. 7:30pm . Lage (guitar); Jorge Roeder (double bass); Joey Barron (drums).
Tue 15: Jools Holland’s Rhythm & Blues Orchestra @ The Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm.
Tue 15: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Willington Town Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Brass Bash @ Market Place, Spennymoor, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Wed 16: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 16: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Trimdon Community College, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: Brass Bash @ Blackhill & Consett Park, Co. Durham. 6:00-8:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Thu 17: NONUNONU @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £11:55 (inc bf).

Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 18: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 18: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ Town Park, Newton Aycliffe, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Brass Bash @ North Terrace, Seaham, Co. Durham. 6:00-9:00pm. Free. Various bands. A Durham Brass Festival event.
Fri 18: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Knats: Masterclass & jam session @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Rat Pack - Live in Concert @ Tyne Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Fri 18: Greg Abate w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00.
Fri 18: Front Porch Three @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. A Hoodoo Blues dance class & social. Social & Front Porch Three only from 8:30pm. £5.00.

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

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

CD/Tour details: Mario Chiara Argirò - Hidden Seas


(Press release)


Hidden Seas is London-based Italian pianist and composer Maria Chiara Argirò’s second album, following on from her 2016 debut The Fall Dance. She is a well-known name on the London scene – her keyboard skills much in demand – currently involved with a variety of musical projects including Liran Donin's 1000 Boats, Kinkajous, Teotima, Rosie Turton and Jamie Leeming.

 
During her career, Argirò has developed her own style of jazz with a twist of contemporary genres inspired by her numerous tours with bands such as These New Puritans and drawing on a wide variety of influences including Radiohead, Shai Maestro, Tigran Hamasyan, Kneebody, Jeff Buckley, Nick Drake, Bjork, Jon Hopkins, Shostakovich and Scriabin.

Hidden Seas – composed entirely by Argirò – departs from the more traditional sound of her debut and sees her turning to synths and electronics and the introduction of vocals. Vocal duties fall to remarkable French singer Leïla Martial, whose extraordinary voice, often deployed as an instrument, brings a new dimension to the music. Martial also co-wrote the lyrics with Argirò on opener Beneath the Surface, with other lyrics on the album written by collaborating artists – Vera Jonas, Jamie Doe (The Magic Lantern) and Daniel Gadd – who Argirò provided with the music and song concept, leaving them free reign to create something befitting. The result is an album of expansive soundscapes, the sparse, evocative lyrics and Martial’s vocal dynamics weaving through the instrumentation that underpins the album. Accompanying Argirò on piano and electronics is singer Leïla Martial, Sam Rapley (Tenor Sax/Clarinet), Tal Janes (Guitar/Effects), Andrea Di Biase (Double Bass) and Gaspar Sena (Drums).

A lifelong fascination with the sea led to the initial concept of the album, and when a copy of Edward MacDowell’s ‘Sea Pieces’ fell at Argirò‘s feet at a Camden Market bookstore the idea was sealed. The overarching theme of the album is the sea and each song represents a story about the sea, either imagined or inspired by real life stories. For example, Nautilus (the first single) was inspired by Jules Verne’s novel ‘Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea’ and explores what it would feel like to be inside a submarine surrounded by every possible layer, colour and sound of the sea. Another track, The Water Oath, was inspired by the story of Chiara Vigo, believed to be the last person on earth who still knows how to harvest, dye and embroider sea silk, the title referencing the sacred ‘Sea Oath’ that maintains that it should never be bought or sold. However, what all the tracks do is transport the listener to another world, where sounds are distorted and melodies come and go. But there’s always a pull, something that draws it all back at the last minute before turmoil sets in.

The move towards a more electronic sound was a natural one and entirely self-taught. Argirò’s excited about this new direction – the electronics, synths and lyrics – the finished album coming as a surprise to her, leaving her keen to explore this direction more in the future.

“...subtly percussive, cinematically evocative ensemble...She’s a quietly compelling presence in new European jazz.” The Guardian

Release date:  27 September 2019
Cavalo Records: CRMCALP01 / CRMCACD01

DATES 2019
28 September – Lucca Jazz Donna Festival, Lucca, Italy
23 October – Peggy's Skylight, Nottingham
24 October – Seven Arts, Leeds
25 October – Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle
15 November – The Crypt, London (part of the EFG London Jazz Festival)

No comments :

Blog Archive