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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

17719 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 39 of them this year alone and, so far, 39 this month (Jan. 15).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sun 19: Glenn Miller Orchestra UK @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 3:00pm. ‘Glenn Miller & the Rat Pack Era’.
Sun 19: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 19: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 5:15-7:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 19: Tenement Jazz Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 19: Nick Ross Orchestra @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:30pm.
Sun 19: Freight Train (Tobin/Noble/Clarvis) @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 19: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 20: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

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.
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: 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.

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

Sunday, March 15, 2020

Jazz 'n' Blues at the Art Institute of Chicago

(By Russell)

If you get the opportunity to visit Chicago a trip to the Art Institute of Chicago should be top of your bucket list. One of the largest art collections in the US includes some of the most well known art works, stuff you'll have looked at countless times in books and in newspaper and magazine articles, likely as not you'll have a print of one of them on your wall at home.  

On a recent visit to the Michigan Avenue galleries it quickly became apparent that Cézannes, Matisses, Monets, Renoirs and Picassos were everywhere - turn a corner and there was another and another. A true feast for the eyes of the many international visitors thronging the galleries, cafes and bookshops over three expansive floors.  


One of America's, if not the world's, instantly recognisable images - Duncan Grant's American Gothic - drew the crowds, if nothing else, it's a financial boon for the institution (general admission will set you back $25). BBC Radio 3's recent documentary Shades of Black: The Art and Genius of Archibald J Motley Jr whetted the appetite. And there he was, Motley Jr, a key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, represented by two paintings - Nightlife and Blues. Vivid, celebratory, the African-American experience portrayed in a positive light. Nightlife's bar/club scene depicts people of colour enjoying themselves, dancing to the sounds of jazz. Alongside Motley Jr was the work of Arthur Dove. An early American modernist, his abstract paintings include Swing Music (Louis Armstrong) from 1938. 

Emmett McBain's Record Cover Designs (1958-61) took pride of place in a gallery devoted to 'Bauhaus Chicago: Design in the City'. See the image of four highly collectible jazz LPs - that's the cover art of Emmett McBain. Last, but by no means least, in fact, purposely left 'til last, both in this article and on the day spent in the Art Institute of Chicago, the master of jazz noir (perhaps that's a new term, BST should copyright it!) - if you're into Chandler and the hard boiled school of American (gloriously pulp) fiction, RKO gangster movies and all things mean streets America, then you'll get it - Edward Hopper is your man. To stand in front of Hopper's Nighthawks was a once in a life opportunity. If you get the chance, go, simple as that. 
Russell

2 comments :

NeilC said...

Great article Russell thank you for posting . I am a big fan of Edward Hopper I purchased a book of his art which I look at constantly but could I own Nighthawks ! I am not familiar with Archibald Motley Jr but will certainly be looking him up, he really captures the vibrancy of Harlem to such an extent you can almost hear the music when you view the paintings .

Lance said...

Reading Russell's reports is rather like listening to "Letter From America" by Alistair Cooke which was aired on BBC Radio for many years and which often contained jazz items. I wonder what Cooke would have had to say about the current situation?

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