Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 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

18585 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 449 of them this year alone and, so far this month (May 31) 103

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

From This Moment On

June

Tue 02: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 02: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 03: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 03: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 03: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 04: Postmodern Jukebox @ Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Thu 04: Webster’s Ragtime Trio @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £17.00. Trio from Texas, USA.
Thu 04: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Chicago blues excellence!
Thu 04: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Thu 04: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 05: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 05: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05-Thu 11: FILM: Köln 75 @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. Dir. Ido Fluk. Drama based on the true story of Keith Jarrett’s 1975 concert in Cologne. Screenings TBC.
Fri 05: Pete Tanton & Alan Law @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 05: House of the Black Gardenia: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). House of the Black Gardenia evening performance. Day 1/3.
Fri 05: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band + IKS Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £24.00. Big band double bill. IKS Big Band (Germany).
Fri 05: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £15.00

Sat 06: Struggle Buggy @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 3:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 06: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Dry Water Arts, Amble. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £15.00.
Sat 06: IKS Big Band: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). IKS Big Band evening performance. Day 2/3.
Sat 06: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Northumbrian Revival, West Benridge Farm, nr. Morpeth NE61 3RZ. 7:30-9:30pm. £21.47 (£2.77. child). 82nd D-Day anniversary event.
Sat 06: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 06: FILM: The Magic City: Birmingham According to Sun Ra @ The Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle. 9:30pm. £7.00., £5.00. Dir. Guillaume Maupin & Pablo Guarise.

Sun 07: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 07: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Feat. guest Steve Walker (trumpet).
Sun 07: Joe Steels: Celebrating Wes @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Trio: Joe Steels, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Sun 07: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Sun 07: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 07: Eddie Gripper Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Gripper (piano); Clem Saynor (double bass); Patrick Barrett-Donlon (drums). Americana album tour.
Sun 07: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 07: Magpies of Swing: Summer Tyne Swing Festival @ Northumbria University Students’ Union, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £130.00; £95.00; £70.00; £50.00. Note: all day dance event (classes & socials). Magpies of Swing afternoon performance. Day 3/3.
Sun 07: Webster’s Ragtime Trio @ The Ship Inn, Low Newton. 7:00pm. £12.50. Trio from Texas, USA.
Sun 07: Salty Dog @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:00pm. £5.00. Performance in the Studio venue.
Sun 07: Ian Millar & Dominic Spencer @ Riding Mill Village Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Sun 07: Swing Manouche @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Feat. Steve McGarvie (clarinet).

Mon 08: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 08: Dave Bristow Quintet @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £22.00., £11.00., £5.50. Bristow (piano); Christian Altehülshorst (trumpet); Félix Hardouin (alto sax); Gabriel Pierre (double bass); Guillaume Prévost (drums).

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Tonight's Blue Note: The Fabulous Fats Navarro Vol. 2

One of the earlier Blue Notes, it has a lot of fond memories for me not least because of the presence of Wardell Gray - my first saxophone hero! Back in the day when Wardell and Dexter were tearing it up on Central Avenue blowing The Chase, going by the recorded evidence, my preference was for Wardell's lighter, more subtle, approach. 

Of course this was before Dexter  Gordon's resurgence when most tenor sax players were swept aside by his overpowering hands-on attack. However, by this time, Wardell had gone to a finer place but not without leaving behind a significant legacy, of which this LP forms a small part.


Also on the date was Allan Eager, one of the most underrated of the white tenor players (Brew Moore was another). Eager had a very light tone - a fore runner of Warne Marsh? If he'd dedicated his life to music who knows but that Eager could have been The Man! However, apart from his heroin addiction which was par for the course in those days, Eager drifted off into other pursuits. Ski/riding instructor, racing car driver and, it was said, gigolo.

I saw Eager at a North Sea Festival where he played fine and at a club near Covent Garden where he didn't. It was empty and, to quote Ronnie Scott, "The bouncers weren't chucking them out they were chucking them in". On this album he offers the same contrast to Wardell as Wardell did to Dexter.

On trumpet is Fats Navarro who never made a bad record and, alongside  him, another trumpet man, Howard McGhee. The record brings together two of the greatest bebop trumpet players of the late 1940s. Dizzy may have won the polls but, trust me, he was in a photo finish with these two whilst Miles,  must have thought about taking up astronomy. Listen to them blowing Double Talk - has there ever been two trumpet players trading choruses like this?
Lance
Tadd Dameron Septet: Fats Navarro (trumpet); Wardell Gray, Allan Eager (tenor saxes); Tadd Dameron (piano); Curley Russell (bass); Kenny Clarke (drums); Chano Pozo (bongo).
----- 
McGee-Navarro Boptet: Fats Navarro, Howard McGhee (trumpets); Ernie Henry (alto sax); Milt Jackson (piano/vibes); Curley Russell (bass); Kenny Clarke (drums).
at

4 comments :

Steve Andrews said...

Fats Navarro - my absolute favourite modern jazz trumpet player! I "got" Fats years before I "got" Dizzy; I think it's because he is, on the one hand, so "hot" - he never flags or coasts in his choruses, but at the same time he's so melodic. By the way, I do get Diz…...it just took me a while, and, of course, when I was a kid I was deeply fascinated by Bird, not some trumpet player who happened to be on the record, too!

Sunday, April 19, 2020 12:29:00 am
Steve T said...

Dizzy claimed Fats was the best of the bebop trumpeters, though I think it was a bit like SinAtra saying Tony Bennett was the best of the crooners.
In what way is this better than vol 1 Lance? A significantly more expensive item.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 6:09:00 pm
Lance said...

A) Because I don't have Volume 1, and B) Wardell Gray isn't on Volume 1. Admitedly Sonny Rollins is on Volume 1 but it was a very young Sonny.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 6:50:00 pm
David Brownlow said...

'Fabulous' Fats Navarro - aptly named ! What a player - great tone,imaginative ideas, great long lines,seemingly effortlessly soaring up into the trumpet stratosphere, too good for Bird's Quintet.
Lance, you have him playing on BSH - "Things we did last summer" with a JATP group - well worth another listen.......

from Dave B.

Sunday, April 19, 2020 7:33:00 pm

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