Bebop Spoken There

John Donegan: ''What you take in through your ears can come out through your fingers.'' (Notes to Which Direction October, 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

19,057 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 921 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 29) 100.

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

October.

Fri 30: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 30: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.

Sat 31: Saltburn Big Band + Durham Alumni Big Band @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm.
Sat 31: East Coast Swing Band @ Cramlington Village Club, Park View, Cramlington NE23 6QJ. 7:30pm. £10.00. (from venue).

November

Sun 01: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £10.00.
Sun 01: Ian Bosworth Quintet @ Chapel, Middlesbrough. 1:00pm. Free. Quintet w. special guest Donna Hewitt (tenor sax, clarinet)
Sun 01: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 01: Sarah Heneghan Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 02: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 02: Saltburn Big Band @ Saltburn House Hotel. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Tue 03: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest tba
Tue 03: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Abbie Finn.
Tue 03: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, Ferryhill. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 04: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 04: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 04: An Evening of Erykah Badu @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 04: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 05: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 05: Hejira - Celebrating Joni Mitchell @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm.
Thu 05: Cut Capers @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors).
Thu 05: Northern Reaches @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Pete Tanton, Joe Steels, Laurence Blackadder, John Hirst.
Thu 05: Fergus McCreadie @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Monday, January 18, 2021

Album review: Wayne Alpern w. The Dorian Wind Quintet - Jukebox

Gretchen Pusch (flute); Gerard Reuter (oboe); Benjanim Fingland (clarinet); Karl Kramer-Johansen (horn); Adrian Morejon (bassoon); Wayne Alpern (producer/arranger).

Never judge a CD by its cover otherwise you may be duped into thinking that this was going to be a romping, stomping, dancing, prancing, hepcats' ball.

It isn't although there is a lot of quirky fun in Alpern's arrangements.

The notes describe the album thus: "Here are familiar tunes, neighborhood friends from our own musical backyards. What is new is how they are handled, elevating the everyday into the extraordinary. The Dorians are musical magicians, snake-charming the cherished from the commonplace. These are  gems extracted from nearby soil, glittering specks of sound culled from the canyon of our collective imagination." 

I guess they're going for a Grammy in the Liner Notes category!

Alpern, the top banana in the project, describes his arrangements as a sophisticated contemporary style of cross-genre or even post-genre music. 

Certainly it's different! There's little or no improvisation. If there is, it's so cleverly infused into the complex scores that spotting any ad-libs is nigh on impossible. Fugue-like, contrapuntal settings of standards, pop songs, jazz classics and show tunes as well as pieces by Bartok, Handel and Tchaikovsky provide the material.

If I've given the impression that this is a serious brow-furrowing exercise for eggheads think again. As I said at the beginning there's a lot of quirky fun. My favourite track is Blue Moon. If you can recall the doo-wop version by The Marcels and imagine it arranged by Bach whilst retaining the feel of the original then you've got the general idea.

Strangely, although the album's street date is given as Jan. 11 and the general release date Jan. 25, I'm unable to find any links where you can find out more and maybe try/buy.*

To add to the uniqueness, the tracks are in alphabetical order!*
Lance


Accustomed to Her Face; All the Things You Are; Bartok Chorale; Beauty and the Beast; Blue Moon; Borodin on Broadway; Do-Re-Me; Don't Stop Believin'; Downton Abbey; Handel Allegro; Have You Met Miss Jones?; In a Sentimental Mood; Nutcracker Suite; Ornithology; Over the Rainbow; Penny Lane; Send in the Clowns; Surrey With the Fringe on Top; Wonderful Guy; You've Got a Friend.

* Sometimes the titles are abbreviated as in track 1.
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