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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

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. CANCELLED! TO BE RESCHEDULED!
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: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
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

Wednesday, April 29, 2020

Just Like Bob Dylan the jazz fan....

Bob Dylan - Murder Most Foul

Posts regarding Mr Dylan on this blog have had a mixed reception over the years, however most reasonable music fans will recognise that he has a deep knowledge of musical styles which have influenced his approach to song-writing and performing. As we approach his 79th birthday (24th May, if you want to send a card) it is worth noting that he has released two new songs which are his first original compositions since the album Tempest in 2012. The first, 'Murder Most Foul', is a 17 minute epic using the assassination of President Kennedy as a jumping off point for a reflection on the social and cultural changes brought about by the 1960s.; and the second, 'I Contain Multitudes', which name checks a small Irish village, Anne Frank, The Rolling Stones, Indiana Jones, Edgar Alan Poe, Beethoven and Chopin.

However it is the first song that I think is of most interest to jazz fans who will already know that in Chronicles, his 'autobiography', Dylan mentions meeting Thelonious Monk, Cecil Taylor and other jazz greats in Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. The song 'Murder Most Foul' mentions many different types of musicians but includes a selection of jazz musicians and GAS book songs and performers.

In the song the narrator (maybe JFK) asks the 1950s/60s DJ Wolfman Jack to play him some songs:

     Play me a song Wolfman Jack
     Play it for me in my long Cadillac
     ....
     Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz
     Play 'Blue Sky', play Dickie Betts
     Play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk
     Charlie Parker and all that junk
     All that junk and 'All That Jazz'
     Play something for the Birdman of Alcatraz
     ...
     Play Nat King Cole, play 'Nature Boy'
     Play 'Down in the Boondocks' for Terry Malloy
     ...
     Play 'Merchant of Venice', play Merchants of Death
     Play 'Stella by Starlight' for Lady Macbeth
     ...
     Play 'Misty' for me, and 'That Old Devil Moon'
     Play 'Anything Goes' and 'Memphis in June'
     ...
     Play Jelly Roll Morton, Play 'Lucille'
     Play 'Deep in a Dream', and play 'Driving Wheel'
     ...
     Play 'Love Me or Leave Me' by the great Bud Powell
     Play 'The Blood-stained Banner', play 'Murder Most Foul'.

JC

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