Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18383 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 247 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 17 ), 57

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

March

Mon 30: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 30: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 31: Bede Trio @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Albert Hills Wright (alto sax); Finn Carter (piano); Michael Dunlop (double bass).

April

Wed 01: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 01: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 01: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 02: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00. Subject: Musicians playing classical & orchestral music.
Thu 02: The Noel Dennis Band @ Prohibition Bar, Albert Road, Middlesbrough TS1 2RU. 7:00pm (doors). £10.84. Quartet plus special guest Zoë Gilby. Over 21s only.
Thu 02: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 02: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00. adv..
Thu 02: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Wednesday, December 09, 2020

Alec Harper live streaming from Kansas Smitty's - Dec. 9

Alec Harper (tenor sax); Noah Stoneman (organ); Dave Archer (guitar); Luca Caruso (drums).

Another night in, another night watching a live stream from Kansas Smitty's studio.

Not quite the same as advertised but in many ways an equally enjoyable experience. I wasn't familiar with Noah Stoneman but his organ grinding fitted perfectly into the hard bop Blue Note setting along with Harper, Archer and the great Caruso. This is the fine thing about Smitty's they can perm just about any combination of musicians from their seemingly bottomless pool and come up with the goods.

A Grant Green number - Jean de Fleur - got things rolling and, not surprisingly, Dave Archer was well featured. One of the great standards followed - Give me the Simple Life. It's a number that hasn't been done to death in the jazz world which made it such a breath of fresh air. Harper's solo brought Sonny Rollins to mind.

Brazil was described as Afro-Cuban which may have been poetic liberty geographically speaking  but it had that driving Latino beat which I guess is, in many eyes and ears, more or less indigenous to most places south of Acapulco.

A few Joe Henderson tunes kept the Blue Note flag flying as did Horace Silver's Sister Sadie.

Another BN classic album provided the finale - If from Larry Young's Unity.

With live streams like this and many others from around the globe (and The Globe) I could end up as an armchair jazz person!

Lance

1 comment :

Russell said...

Lance, you're the last person on Planet Jazz who'll settle for an armchair view. I'll see you at the next audience-admitted gig!

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