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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Tue 21: ???

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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, February 04, 2020

CD Review: Issie Barratt’s Interchange – Donna’s Secret


(Review by Hugh C)

Issie Barratt is well established on the jazz scene as an internationally active composer, arranger, conductor, baritone player, record producer and educator

Interchange (“In-to-change”)   is “an exciting new jazz dectet comprising ten of the nation’s most innovative award-winning composers and improvisers –  Pushing at the boundaries and blurring all the edges!”

Donna’s Secret comprises eight newly commissioned works, each by a different composer, namely: Still Here (Karen Street); Donna’s Secret (Brigitte Beraha); Negomi (Nikki Iles); Samla Korna Med Kulning (Issie Barratt); Palmyra (Shirley Smart); Spontaneous Symmetry (Tori Freestone); Caliban (Cassie Kinoshi); Hope (Carol Jarvis).  

Each is written in response to a situation or life event the individual composer has encountered or experienced and detailed sleeve notes place each track in the context in which it was composed.

Still Here demonstrates tight ensemble playing interspersed by a Ceilidh-style dance rhythm featuring Karen Street’s accordion. Donna’s Secret features both musical (verbal and non-verbal) and spoken vocals, in both French and English, from Brigitte Beraha and Jessica Radcliffe.  Negomi is a reflective piece with Middle Eastern influences, written in response to the plight of refugees in the Calais camps.  Samla Korna Med Kulning commences with birdsong and cowbells and depicts women’s herding calls (Kulning) on the Fennoscandian peninsula.  Palmyra returns us to the Middle East (where the composer lived for several years).  Spontaneous Symmetry examines the patterns of nature and breakages in the usual symmetry, such as Freestone’s mother’s atrial fibrillation.  Caliban is Kinoshi’s response to the character in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.  Hope reflects the composer’s emotional journey through cancer juxtaposing darkness and loneliness with optimism and hope.

As observed in a previous review on Bebop Spoken Here (and quoted in the band’s publicity) this is a band, “full of sophisticated music and improvisational skill”.  The whole CD lasts a total of nearly 78 minutes and each track between 7 and 13 minutes.  Within each track there are contrasting elements reflecting the nature of the subject matter informing the composition.  

The CD bears repeated listening, and each time new nuances are discovered.  This is not one for “musical wallpaper” in the background and demands full attention from the listener.

Donna’s Secret is released by Fuzzy Moon Records (Catalogue FUZ015) and is available now.

Issie Barratt (Baritone Sax); Nikki Iles (Piano); Laura Jurd (Trumpet/Electronics); Jessica Radcliffe (Voice); Helena Kay (Clarinet/Alto Sax); Rosie Turton (Trombone); Shirley Smart (Cello); Karen Street (Accordion); Charlie Pyne (Bass); Katie Patterson (Percussion).
 Hugh

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