Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 2026)

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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Thu 19: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: George Shearing Jazz Moments.

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. 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 18, 2020

CD Review: Jason Palmer - The Concert, 12 Musings for Isabella

Jason Palmer (trumpet); Mark Turner (tenor sax); Joel Ross (vibes); Edward Perez (bass); Kendrick  Scott (drums).
(Review by Lance).

I can think of few, if any, albums that have had such an inspiration as this one. Musically, it is superb but the background to it is equally fascinating!

On March 18, 1990, a couple of low lifes disguised as cops entered Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and walked out with 13 works of art by such A-listers as Rembrandt, Degas, Manet and others. The heist was valued at 500 million bucks and, despite the efforts of the FBI, Mike Hammer and Hercule Poirot, the crime remains unsolved to this day.

The museum offered an ongoing reward of one million dollars for their recovery so, next time your band plays a gig at a posh wedding,  check out the paintings, that one of Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee next to the Jack Vettriano could well up your fee to way beyond MU rates.

Unlikely I know - they're probably hidden in a vault in Switzerland - but just maybe...

However, even if you don't click for the reward the music on this double CD is a worthy consolation.

Palmer, apart from being a fine trumpet player, is also an Assistant Professor of Ensembles and Brass at Berklee College of Music and composed all of the pieces, each one inspired by the stolen paintings, Here he blows some fiery trumpet solos that are works of art in themselves and Turner, Ross, Perez and Scott prove that they too are to jazz what several of the missing artist's works are to painting.

You can read Palmer's comments on each track/painting here
You can also find out more of the theft and view the stolen items here.
Or, you can sit back and enjoy a tremendous concert recorded live in the museum and decide for yourself whether or not they relate to the particular item of inspiration. 

Personally, I'm just enjoying the music - it is priceless (maybe less 10/% via the usual suspects). Which makes me wonder, did the FBI check out eBay?

Interesting thought: a live recording on record is valued even though it is, in effect, a reproduction whereas a painting is only valued  as a one off and reproductions can be bought for a couple of quid anywhere!
Lance

Release date is March 18, 30 years on from the biggest ever art theft in US history. 

No comments :

Blog Archive