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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

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: 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: 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.

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

Friday, July 24, 2020

Album review: Jazz Plus Ensemble - Collective

Jazz Plus Productions is/are Chris Jones and Charles Price. Followers of the award-winning Durham University Big Band will know their names from a couple of years ago. Since graduating from the Land of the Prince Bishops the boys have been busy making a name for themselves in the music business. The 'Collective' is aptly named as several members of the eighteen piece band just happen to be Durham University alumni. 

Seven tracks spanning approximately forty one minutes were recorded some twelve months ago in what seems like far off pre-Covid times. The audio quality is excellent, the musicianship (ensemble and solo) is of the highest order. Chris Jones composed and/or arranged all of the tracks and the solo contributions come from all sections of the band. 

Alto sax star Dan Garel features on the opening cut - Feel Alright Experiment - and Monkey Suit with its stately brass band intro, funk bass line, Matt Jacobs conjuring retro Hammond organ-like sounds and Ollie Farley's killer guitar chords. A few years ago at the Great North Big Band Jazz Festival a star vocalist emerged. Her name? Laura Paul. And here she is on this Jazz Plus recording! Singing in Portuguese on Esse Passaro Chamado Tempo (David Sear, trombone) and in English on Inhale Exhale (Matthew Sulzmann, soprano sax, David Sear, trombone), the award-winning vocalist simply confirms what we knew back then...Laura is a star!

Four Court Fish (comp. C. Jones) introduces tenor saxophonist Josephine Colter. Excellent, brooding tenor sax and organ, tight ensemble work, this is a stand out track on an album of stand out tracks. Impressive arrangements, frequently dynamic ensemble playing, incisive solos, the Jazz Plus Ensemble's debut recording is set to receive many plaudits and all of them will be fully deserved.    Russell     

Jazz Plus Ensemble: Daniel Garel, Matthew Sulzmann, John Somerton, Josephine Colter, Felicity Evans (saxophones); Noah Lawrence, Alexander Astbury, Joey Penaliggon, Alistair Martin (trumpets); David Sear, Chris Jones, Laura Piggford, Luke Bentley (trombones); Ollie Farley (guitar); Matthew Jacobs (piano); Jonathan Berry (bass guitar); Tristan Bacon (drums) 

Collective is available now as a download (MP3, FLAC etc.). Further details at www.jazzplus.org and Jazz Plus Productions' YouTube and Instagram TV pages.  
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