Bebop Spoken There

Donovan Haffner ('Best Newcomer' 2025 Parliamentary Jazz Awards): ''I got into jazz the first time I picked up a saxophone!" - Jazzwise Dec 25/Jan 26

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

18146 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 24 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Jan. 7), 24

From This Moment On ...

JANUARY 2026

Sat 10: Mark Toomey Quintet @ St Peter’s Church, Stockton-on-Tees. 7:30pm. £12.00. (inc. pie & peas). Tickets from: 07749 255038.

Sun 11: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Am Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 11: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 12: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 12: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Milne Glendinning Band @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00. Coquetdale Jazz.
Tue 13: Jazz Jam Sandwich @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam Session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 15: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Quartet + guest Paul Donnelly (guitar).

Fri 16: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Darlington Big Band @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Leeds City Stompers @ Billy Bootleggers, Newcastle. 9:00pm. Free.

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

Saturday, November 28, 2020

Album review: David Sills Double Guitar Quintet - Natural Lines

David Sills (tenor sax/alto flute); Larry Koonse, Mike Scott (guitar); Blake White (bass); Tim Pleasant (drums).

This one's been hanging around for a couple of months. Every time it gets close to the top of my to play list something sneaks in from left field and pushes it down the pecking order. This may not be so sad an event as the pandemic or the outgoing President's antics but it runs them close - I've ordered my sack cloth and ashes from Amazon (special Black Friday discount).

However, now's the time to make amends for the error of my ways ...

An absolute cracker! The blurb describes Sills as a meeting of Stan Getz and Joe Henderson  which is just about right. Getz's cool detached sound and Henderson's gritty attack merge as one.

My initial reserve I think came from seeing two guitars in the line-up imagining it as being rather muddy water to wade in.

Wrong!

The guitars are empathetic. Socially and musically distanced enough to avoid tripping over each other. As one of them is Larry Koonse I should have known it would be okay - his name is far from unknown on BSH. White is new to me but if Koonse gave him the thumbs up then that's good enough for me! The unison and the contrapuntal passages with sax and guitar are quite amazing 

Apart from sax, Sills is equally delightful on alto flute. A crisp, pure sound on Quiet is the Star.  On Nardis there are moments when he takes it to the extreme - purity disappears although sanity returns! Bass and drums are equally up there to make this as good as any straight ahead jazz you're likely to hear. Just had a thought, if jazz isn't straight ahead jazz is it still jazz?

Tomorrow this goes onto the car stereo and it will take something extra special to replace it. But, hang on, if this is playing in the Chev, how am I going to concentrate on the oncoming traffic and the bends in the road?

Highly recommended for non-drivers.

Usual suspects.

Lance

Minor Mode; Sync or Swim; Sonny's Side; Quiet is the Star; Lover Man; Foggy Daze; Mellow Stone; Nardis; Jones'  Tones; All the Little Things; Outside Corner; Interplay.

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