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

19,030 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 894 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 22) 73.

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.

Sat 24: Jo Harrop @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 2:00pm. Harrop w. Jamie McCredie, Paul Edis, Andy Champion & Peter Adam Hill. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: Sing Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. £27.50. Tutor: Alexia Gardner. Louis Armstrong. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 24: Seb Rochford’s Finding Ways @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 3:00pm. Tara Cunningham (guitar); Simon Tong (guitar); Anders Christensen (bass); Seb Rochford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Vasilis Xenopoulos-Paul Edis Quartet @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 4:00pm. VX & PE w. Andy Champion (double bass) & Steve Hanley (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: OUTRI @ Durham Fringe Academy, Durham. 4:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Pete Roth Trio @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 5:30pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Durham University Jazz Society: An Evening of Standards @ Durham University Music School, Durham. 5:30pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Rivkala @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 6:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24:Eleonora Kouneni @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Kouneni (vocals), Paul Edis (piano). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: Marvin Muoneké w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gala Theatre, Durham. 7:30pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sat 24: Knats @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 9:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sat 24: Kind of Blu Jazz Jam @ Radisson Blue Hotel, Durham. 10:30pm. House rhythm section: Paul Edis, Ken Marley & Steve Hanley. Durham Jazz Festival.

Sun 25: Paul Edis workshop: Another Week, Another Composition - How I Compose @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham. 10:30am. £16.00. Durham Jazz Festival. CANCELLED!
Sun 25: Jo Harrop workshop: From Chester-le-Street to LA: A Singer’s Journey @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 11:00am. £8.50. Durham Jazz Festival. CANCELLED!
Sun 25: Janette Mason workshop: The Art of Arranging @ Mark Hillery Arts Centre, Collingwood College, Durham. 12:30pm. £16.00. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Dean Stockdale Quartet: Celebrating Oscar Peterson @ Durham University Music School. 1:00pm. Line-up: Dean Stockdale (piano); Jamie Taylor (guitar); Gavin Barras (double bass); Gaz Hughes (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Tom Atkinson’s Electric Miles: Celebrating Jack Johnson @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 2:00-3:15pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: SULA @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 2:30pm. Kezia Abouma (piano), Aleks Dimitrova (bass), Miranda Radford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival. NOTE NEW TIME (2.30pm).
Sun 25: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Swing into Sunday @ St Oswald’s Institute, Durham. 2:30pm. Lindy Jazz. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Richard Wetherall (keyboards); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 25: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 25: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. Ruth Lambert (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass). RESCHEDULED to NOV. 1
Sun 25: Marvin Muoneké Quartet @ St Chad’s College, Durham. 4:00pm. Line-up: Dean Stockdale (piano); TBC (double bass); Abbie Finn (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Janette Mason Rewired @ Sir Thomas Allen Assembly Rooms Theatre, Durham. 4:30pm. Line-up: Janette Mason (piano); Jakub Cywiński (double bass); Eric Ford (drums). Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 5:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival. SOLD OUT!
Sun 25: Zoë Gilby & Andy Champion @ Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, Durham. 6:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £3.00.
Sun 25: Sara Oschlag w. Arnie Somogyi Trio @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Sara Oschlag (vocals); Richard Wetherall (piano); Arnie Somogyi (double bass); John Hirst (drums).
Sun 25: Durham University Jazz Society - Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s Bar, Durham. 8:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.
Sun 25: Olivia Cuttill Quintet + King Pleasure & the Biscuit Boys @ Redhills Durham Miners’ Hall, Durham. 8:00pm. Durham Jazz Festival.

Mon 26: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 26: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 27: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. guest Ruth Lambert.
Tue 27: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations).

Wed 28: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 28: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 28: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 29: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 29: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 29: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 29: Simon Taylor Band @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. £8.00.
Thu 29: King Bees @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb Chicago blues band.

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.

Friday, March 05, 2021

Album review: Matt Carmichael - Where Will the River Flow

Matt Carmichael (tenor sax); Fergus McCreadie (piano); Ali Watson (double bass); Tom Potter (drums)

The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, tutored by Tommy Smith, the Scottish folk tradition, an Erasmus exchange nurturing Scandinavian influences, all this and more, yet Matt Carmichael is only just in his early twenties. Now, a debut album, Where Will the River Flow (without a question mark!). 

A finalist in the 2020 edition of the BBC Young Jazz Musician of the Year competition, tenor saxophonist Matt Carmichael has led the quartet heard on this album since 2016. The collective pedigree of the four musicians gives an indication of the astonishing level of musicianship: pianist Fergus McCreadie has bagged numerous awards, not least picking up the 2019 APPJAG award for album of the year; in his mid teens bassist Ali Watson was a recipient of a Dewar Arts Award; drummer Tom Potter, from Glasgow, won UK Drummer of the Year at a ridiculously young age having first picked up a pair of sticks at the relatively late age of eleven! 

All nine tracks on Where Will the River Flow are Carmichael's compositions. An inescapable Celtic sound flows through the album's fifty two minutes playing time. Titles such as the opening Sognsvann, Firth, Cononbridge and The Spey root the composer's melodies in a Scottish/Scandinavian landscape (Sognsvann is a lake in Oslo). His band mates, all fellow Scots, clearly share his affinity for the folk tradition, their heritage. 

The music heard on this self-released album is to be enjoyed by anyone and everyone. Dyed-in-the-wool folkies are sure to love it, jazz heads will, perhaps, hone in on The Spey, with its blistering tempo, similarly the title track featuring some quicksilver piano improvisations from McCreadie. Carmichael has stated that the closing track, Valley, 'was completely improvised in the studio'. The ebb and flow, tension and release of the leader's tenor sax is quite something.       
Russell

Where Will the River Flow by Matt Carmichael is available from March 12 as a self-release recording (CD/digital/vinyl) on Porthole Music. 
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1 comment :

Colin Muirhead said...

I've listened to an advance copy of "Where Will the River Flow" and I concur whole-heartedly with this positive review. Ahead at his gig at the Globe on 30th April (mentioned in a separate post by Russell), I was fortunate to chat with Matt Carmichael a few days ago about the album and his music. You can hear this interview by tuning in to Jazz on the Tyne from noon on Saturday 13th March, at www.mixcloud.com/hive_radio, where you can also find all of the previous shows.

Monday, March 08, 2021 6:13:00 pm

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