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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

Monday, April 20, 2020

Tonight's Blue Note: Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers and RIP Jymie Merritt.

Lee Morgan (trumpet); Benny Golson (tenor sax); Bobby Timmons (piano); Jymie Merritt (bass); Art Blakey (drums).

This just isn't "Tonight's Blue Note" it's also a tribute to Jymie Merritt who died on April 10 - age 93. It's not attributed to the virus.

Two of Blakey's most famous numbers are on the album - Moanin' and Blues March - and Jymie Merritt solos on both. Possibly one of the most underrated bassists of the era and probably the only one who lived to such a ripe old age although Benny Golson is coming up on the rails.

Morgan on trumpet, the link from Fats to Freddie via Clifford, such a great player and such a tragic end. 

Golson - still alive and blowing - when I hear his solos I realise I'm going to have to revise some of my all-time lists!

The Drum Thunder Suite may, at first, tend to put off those who think that drummers should be seen and not heard into re-think mode. The late Bill Shaw and I used to often argue re the relative merits of Blakey and Buddy Rich. Bill, being a drummer, invariably won in favour of Buddy quoting some seemingly impossible combination of hands, feet and who knows what else but to me, much as I too loved Buddy, I have always loved Blakey's drumming he had so much drive and, most importantly, at the end of the day, in music it's the player that counts whether you're using a basic Baby Dodds' kit or a double bass drum set up like Louie Bellson used as demonstrated yesterday by Josh Duffee.

I remember Bill once saying he'd been to a gig where the drummer (Ginger Baker?) had had so many cymbals, toms etc that he'd have had to have thrown the stick like an Olympic javelin thrower to hit some of them!

Buddy and Blakey never had that problem. This is the Jazz Messengers in one of their many finest hours!

But, at the end of the day, let us remember Jymie Merritt - may he Rest In Peace.
Lance.

PS: I defy anyone listening to Moanin' not to type in time to the record!

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