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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Wed 16: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
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. CANCELLED!

Thu 17: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Only Six Standards.
Thu 17: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Fri 18: Alexia Gardner @ Fika Gallery, Oldgate, Morpeth NE61 1LT. 7:00pm. Trio (Gardner, Alan Law, Jude Murphy).RESCHEDULED FOR JUNE 13

Fri 18: Sarah Jane Morris & Tony Remy: The Sisterhood @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £25.00.

Sat 19: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-3:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 19: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 19: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

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, October 01, 2019

CD Review: ARQ - Short Stories

Diane McLoughlin (tenor/saxes); Steve Lodder (piano); Deirdre Cartwright (guitar); Alison Rayner (bass); Buster Birch (drums).
(Review by Lance).

ARQ [Alison Rayner Quintet] played a knockout gig at the Globe Jazz Bar, in Newcastle last year (Nov. 22) - as they would riding high, as they were, upon their triumph at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards earlier. I marked that one down as one of my Gigs of the Year and this, their latest album, I'm pleased to report is as exciting as their two previous albums - maybe more so.

Eight tracks: 5 by leader Rayner and 1 each by McLoughlin, Cartwright and Lodder. Birch doesn't get to show his compositional skills but McLoughlin's Buster Breaks a Beat was composed as a feature for the drummer who rises to the occasion experimenting with, I quote, broken beats, funk and retro dance music. It's a delightful piece that captivated me from the start. Despite the title, it's not your normal hit everything in sight drum solo but rather an exploration in unusual rhythms all held together by outstanding solos from guitar, tenor and piano underlined by Rayner paving the way for Buster to break beats.

Two of Rayner's 5 are pieces composed and inspired by the loss of close friends: There is a Crack in Everything (for her niece Pippa Handley) and A Braw Boy (for Craig Handley, a young Scottish  photographer who died aged 23). The emotion and feeling of loss is poignantly expressed by the music.

Cartwright's Life Lived Wide is also a piece of remembrance. Debbie Dickinson, described by Deirdre as 'the seventh member of  the Guest Stars' - the band Cartwright and Rayner played in back in the 1980s - is given a less solemn tribute the music reflecting the fun that was so much a part of the band's performances.

Lodder's Seeing Around Corners is, for the most part, a jaunty jazz waltz that segues into a slower section with McLoughlin's lyrical, probing soprano perhaps suggesting that you take care before you turn into that alley. Rayner's dark bass solo adding to the step into the unknown.

Five outstanding musicians and eight evocative compositions make for an enjoyable listening experience whether you opt for CD, digital or vinyl.
Lance.
Available Oct. 27 on Blow The Fuse Records.
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