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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17755 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 76 of them this year alone and, so far, 1 this month (Feb.1).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Fri 07: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 07: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 07: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Old Lowlight, Clifford’s Fort, North Shields NE30 1JE. 7:00pm. £15.00. + bf. www.oldlowlight.co.uk. SOLD OUT!
Fri 07: Stuart Turner Trio @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Jazz, blues, Americana etc.
Fri 07: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 07: Rose Room @ Wylam Institute. 8:00pm. £19.67.
Fri 07: John Rowland Quartet @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 08: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 08: Lewis Watson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 08: Anth Purdy @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. ‘Swing Jazz Guitar’.
Sat 08: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A Newcastle University Jazz Orchestra event. All welcome.

Sun 09: Glenn Miller & Big Band Spectacular @ The Forum, Billingham. 3:00pm.
Sun 09: The New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 09: Tom Remon & Mark Williams @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 09: Rod Oughton’s Tomorrow’s New Quartet with Ben van Helder @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Line-up inc. Deschanel Gordon.
Sun 09: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 10: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 11: Steve Summers Quintet @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm.

Wed 12: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Jam session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 12: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 12: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 13: Student Performances @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 4:00pm. Free. Inc. Olly Styles (tenor sax).
Thu 13: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: Artist Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Hannabiell & Midnight Blue.
Thu 13: Indigo Jazz Voices @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:45pm. £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

Friday, November 22, 2019

CD Review: Joy Ellis – Dwell


Joy Ellis (piano, Fender Rhodes, vocals); Rob Luft (guitar); Henrik Jensen (double bass); Ferg Ireland (electric bass); Adam Osmiandski (drums); Helen Burnett (sound bowls on Daffodils)
(Review by Ann Alex)

Here is the first of three humdinger CDs received for review – I feel lucky. I've already seen Joy Ellis and her band at the Globe and have heard some of these actual songs. All the songs were written and produced by Ms Ellis and her lyrics are supplied on the CD insert, a bonus we didn't get in the live performance, so I was well primed to enjoy the album, and I certainly did.


The songs relate to a sense of place and reflections on life in general, such as thoughts on the birth of a new baby as winter ends; ideas about the family; an incident in Manchester; an atmospheric portrayal of ice on a river. The music is influenced not only by jazz but also elements of groove and dance music and her classical piano training.

The overall effect is freewheeling, varied, lively music, perhaps best described by a rundown of track 10 Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, which is one of the 2 instrumentals. First we hear a rippling riffing piano with comments from Jensen on bass. The piano develops a strong theme and the whole tune moves along the line, gentle drums crop up, piano gets bolder with more variations, then ripples to the end. An inadequate description, I know, which doesn't do the music justice.

Our singer has a naturally musical tone, and the lyrics are pleasingly descriptive, especially on tracks such as Ice On The River, with its short lines suggesting coldness 'Ice on the river, frost on the field, cold tide lapping, 'gainst the boards of the pier.' These lyrics are accompanied by Rhodes-like tones which manage to sound cold. The other track titles are: Daffodils; Pollyanna; Family Tree; Castles; Dwell; One Minute In Manchester; Boy; Mick Coady Says Hello (Instrumental).

The presence of the outstanding guitarist Rob Luft adds to the overall sound as does the stellar rhythm section.

Joy Ellis graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and has toured widely to such places as Ronnie Scott's, the Barbican, The Cork Jazz Festival and No Black Tie Jazz Club in Kuala Lumpur. Her previous album, Life On Land, (2017) was reviewed on BSH. She also performs Brazilian music with the Samba Azul group.  

A promotional tour featuring the album is planned but if you wish to see her you'll have to go to the nearest places, Edinburgh on February 23, or Leeds on March 14 next year. Better to ask Santa for the CD for Christmas, as it is released on November 29 on Oti-O Records. Or you could get  along to the album launch at the Vortex, London on December 14.

Ann Alex





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