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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 2025).

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

17655 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 929 of them this year alone and, so far, 74 this month (Dec. 31).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sun 05: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

Mon 06: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 07: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:00pm. Free.

Wed 08: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: The Tannery Jam Session @ The Tannery, Gilesgate, Hexham. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Wed 08: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 08: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 09: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: John H Hammond.
Thu 09: FILM: Soundtrack to a Coup D’Etat @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 2:35pm. Documentary (dir. Johan Grimonprez) ‘about jazz, (de)colonial history and activism featuring Louis Armstrong, Nina Simone and Dizzy Gillespie’.
Thu 09: Happy Tuesdays @ Ye Olde Cross, Ryton. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 09: Merlin Roxby @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. Ragtime piano. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 09: Mark Toomey Quartet @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. The session now monthly, next one Thursday 2nd Feb, then first Thursday in the month thereafter.

Fri 10: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 10: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 10: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free.

Sat 11: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 11: Under the Wellie @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Monday, April 19, 2021

Rachael Cohen Quintet Livestreaming the music of Jackie McLean & Lee Morgan from Ronnie Scott's - April 19

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)
Rachael Cohen (alto sax); Mark Kavuma (trumpet); Deschanel Gordon (piano); Dan Casimar (bass); Shane Forbes (drums).

This was near enough about as good as it gets! An excellent set with five players at the top of their game putting their own take on some of the recordings by Jackie McLean and Lee Morgan. Classics recorded on Blue Note that have stood the test of time and, in doing so, provided material for tonight's stars to build upon and make their own.

Cohen's playing is, to put it mildly, absolutely sensational. Jackie McLean is alive and well in her hands - You looking for a jazz alto sax player? look no further!

Kavuma has a couple of albums to his name that have been reviewed on BSH so I already knew how good he was - or so I thought! He seemed to struggle a bit on the opening number but, once his lip was in he was flying. When you have someone like Rachael Cohen sharing the front line with you, you either put up or shut up - he didn't shut up. Kavuma and Cohen are as well matched as Bird and Diz were, or to be more exact, Morgan and McLean.

(Screenshot by Ken Drew)
Gordon too was on form, he seems to get better and better every time I hear him. He had some cracking solos tonight. Casimar was relatively subdued but, when given his freedom, he took it, reminding me of the time I heard him at The Globe with Clark Tracey a few years back.

Likewise, it wasn't until the final number that Forbes kicked seven shades out of the pots and pans although his presence was ever evident dropping an occasional bomb when a minor explosion was called for.

I didn't catch all the titles but the set did include: Leeway; These Are Soulful Days; Twilight Mist and Ceora.

Nice one. 

Lance

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