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

Wednesday, January 13, 2021

Album review: Zoöphyte - Out of the Cave

Yesterday we posted a review of Peter Jones' biography of Jon Hendricks - This is Bop. Today I'm reviewing an album by Peter's band Zoöphyte and tomorrow? Who knows? it could be a vocalese take on The Dead Sea Scrolls. With Peter Jones anything's possible.

On this four track EP Peter is uncertain as to whether it should be classed as jazz-pop or pop-jazz. Not an issue with me. Instead, I'll quote Eddie Condon and say, we called it music.

And very good music it is too. Jones has a cool, laid back approach that only the best jazz singers have and it's easy to see how he was able to get inside and offer such perceptive insights on his biographical subjects Hendricks and Mark Murphy - he has many of the same vocal qualities.

As well as singing, in conjunction with Trevor Lever he also composed all four tunes. They're not just tunes or even songs, they're stories brought to life by music and you live them alongside the singer sharing the joy and the heartache.

A glance at the personnel listed below should quell any  genre doubts. This is a jazz record by any yardstick!

Lance

Available (digital only) on Howlin' Werewolf Records.

Cashmere, Diamonds and Leather; The Haddock; Moscow in May; Map of Australia.

Peter Jones (vocals); Graeme Flowers (trumpet – 1,2,3); Bill Yeomans tenor sax – 1); Vasilis Xenopoulos, Gunnar Mossblad (tenor sax - 3); Mark Aston (tenor sax – 4 baritone sax - 3); Tom Berge (piano); Andrew Cleyndert (double bass); Sophie Alloway (drums – 1,2,3); Mark Whitlam (drums – 4).

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