Bebop Spoken There

Gary Bartz: ''Music is nature's gift to man. It's the only religion. We're living in a terrible era, but what a beautiful thing music is. Look how it brings us together like religion is supposed to; and with no language barriers.'' (Jazzwise September, 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

18918 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 782 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Sept. 18.) 61.

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

September.

Fri 25: Mark Williams Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £9.00.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Get the Blessing + Dilettante @ The Cluny (Cluny 2), Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £18.00. + bf. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Fri 25: Jazz Sabbath @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

Sat 26: Adam Fairhall & Johnny Hunter: Play Mary Lou Williams @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.
Sat 26: John Pope Quintet + Urvashi @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £15.40. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Sun 27: Salty Dog @ The Cluny. 12:30pm (doors). Free (donations).
Sun 27: Musicians Unlimited @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Zach Sewell-Lara Hopper Quintet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. £12.00., £10.00.
Sun 27: Sun 27: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free. RESCHEDULED to Sunday 4 October.
Sun 27: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 27: Alex Hitchcock Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00. A Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

Mon 28: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 29: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ Hepscott Parish Hall. 7:30pm. . £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Tue 29: Red Kites Jazz @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: Tenderly: The Life & Times of Nat ‘King’ Cole @ The Hearth, Horsley. 7:30pm. £15.00., £12.00. (Early Bird advance ticket), £10.00. Off-Broadway production feat. Duane Forrest.
Wed 30: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 30: New Ways of Moving in the Counterworlds + Juliana Day & Manon McCoy + Helen Anahita Wilson @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. A BBC Introducing-Newcastle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music event.

October

Thu 01: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 01: Rivkala @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 01: The Scenic Route @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free.

Friday, March 12, 2021

KSTV: Playback session - Weather Report's Black Market

Alec Harper (tenor sax, soprano sax); Will Barry (keyboards); Flo Moore (electric bass); Jas Kayser (drums); João Caetano (percussion).

(Screenshots by Ken Drew)

Weather Report's 1976 album Black Market was the band's seventh album and the first to introduce Jaco Pastorius. The Wayne Shorter-Joe Zawinul outfit was at the height of its powers, playing arena and stadium gigs before arena and stadium gigs became the norm. Tonight's Kansas Smitty's session would attempt to get somewhere near the magnificence of the legendary musicians heard on the album and in concert halls around the world. 

Shortly before the live stream set began Kansas Smitty's presenter Osei Mensa chatted to Will Barry. Keyboards maestro Barry indicated he and his band mates had their work cut out in trying to do justice to the music and its principal composers, Messrs Shorter and Zawinul. Six of the album's seven tunes would be played (the one omission being Three Clowns) in the order as on the recording. 

Black Market first up, the memories of hearing the band at Newcastle City Hall came flooding back. The line-up on those two occasions featured Pastorius (Alphonso Johnson had recently departed) and Peter Erskine (Chester Thompson and Michael Walden were no longer involved). Alex Acuña was on the tour, and, from memory, Don Alias. Cannon Ball, composed in memory of Zawinul's one time employer Cannonball Adderley, tested the Kansas Smitty'd crew to the limit. Unsurprisingly, Alec Harper (Shorter) and Will Barry (Zawinul) rose to the task - Harper impressing on soprano sax (for some, Shorter playing soprano over tenor is the preference), Barry somehow summoning the sound of Zawinul's three-sided, multi-tiered keyboards set up. 

From Shorter's Elegant People to Pastorius' sole compositional credit, Barbary Coast, tonight's Kansas Smitty's all-stars were having a ball. Even in these Batman and Robin masked times, it was evident from the shining eyes that they were having the time of their lives, not least when they successfully negotiated several particularly fiendish sections! 

To the finale, a percussion face-off between Jas Kayser and João Caetano on the album's closing number, Alphonso Johnson's Herandnu. If there had been a real live audience present, the applause would have taken the roof off. These guys are the business! Finally, a word, one word, about bassist Flo Moore...superb.  

Russell     
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