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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

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. SOLD OUT!
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

Friday, November 20, 2020

Yazz Ahmed: Livestreamed from Kings Place, EFG London Jazz Festival - Nov. 19.

Yazz Ahmed (trumpet/flugelhorn); Ralph Wyld (vibes); Martin France (drums); Dave Manington (bass). 

(Review/screenshots by Amy Sibley-Allen) 

British-Bahraini composer, trumpeter and flugelhorn player Yazz Ahmed’s star is rapidly rising and what a shining light it is. The livestreamed concert from Kings Place is testament to that. Ahmed’s nuanced psychedelic mix of jazz and electronics with Arabian rhythms and influences is captivating.

Since releasing her debut album Finding My Way Home in 2011 Ahmed has honed her craft and collaborated with many musicians including Lee Scratch Perry and Radiohead, amongst others, even undertaking a world tour with These New Puritans. For this concert Ahmed mixes up tracks from her last two album releases La Saboteuse (2018), exploring the inner destroyer, and Polyhymnia (2020), a homage to female courage and determination - for which she has recently won Jazz FM Jazz Album of the Year and additionally took home Jazz Act of the Year.

Whilst often writing for, and performing with, her septet the Hafla band and larger ensembles this concert is stripped back to a just a quartet featuring drummer Martin France, vibraphonist Ralph Wyld and bass player Dave Manington. Set up facing each other on the Kings Place stage it feels intimate with a hazy vibe and kaleidoscopic lighting - fitting of the music. Overall the Kings Place streaming was flawless and the sound mix spot on.  

The opening track Lahan al-Mansour, which is inspired by Arabian film director Haifaa al-Mansour, immediately enthrals with bowed vibraphone followed by a fine interplay with France’s drum grooves with underlying steady bass. Ahmed’s manipulated trumpet effects with Arabic melodies set the tone of the evening.

The reflective La Saboteuse zones in on France’s controlled and delicate drumming and the subtle interplay of the quartet - an Arabic poem weaves through the soundscape, voicing the inner destroyer - which translated reads ‘she says she is my friend’ but ‘is not to be trusted’.

The third track Jamil Jamal has driving rhythms and a vibrant energy throughout before a transfixing and evocative solo bass intro from Manington on 2857, dedicated to Rosa Parks, utilising sound manipulations and loop pedal before vibes and drums join. Ahmed’s mellow flugelhorn playing adds a sublime tone to the track.

A Shoal of Souls is a heartfelt and powerful tune inspired both by the artwork of Sophie Bass and Sufism’s whirling and twirling. Dedicated to all of the lives lost crossing the Mediterranean in search of a better future this sits heavy but is an outstanding track. The final piece of the evening The Lost Pearl is inspired by Bahrain, Ahmed’s first home, and is a rich feast of Middle Eastern melodies and rhythms.

Whilst Ahmed may have been battling her inner saboteur ‘we are very grateful that she has found salvation in sound’ as stated in the concert’s opening intro and I am sure is felt by all those listening. In a fitting end to the evening Ahmed’s father posted the last live stream chat comment, which simply stated how proud he was - and he really has every right to be. 

Amy

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