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Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, April 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

17923 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 244 of them this year alone and, so far, 91 this month (March 31).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Thu 03: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Women in Jazz.
Thu 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Thu 03: New ’58 Jazz Collective @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. A Tees Hot Club promotion. First Thursday in the month.

Fri 04: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 04: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 04: Ruth Lambert Quartet @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00.
Fri 04: Tom McGuire & the Brassholes @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00.
Fri 04: Nicolas Meier’s Infinity Group + Spirit of Jeff Beck @ The Forum, Darlington. 7:30pm.

Sat 05: Tenement Jazz Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 05: Sleep Suppressor @ Head of Steam, Newcastle. 5:30-6:00pm.
Sat 05: King Bees @ Billy Bootlegger’s, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 6:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Raymond MacDonald & Jer Reid @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 6:00-9:30pm. £7.72., £1.00. (minimum donation). MacDonald & Reid + Objections + Yotuns.
Sat 05: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 05: Kamasi Washington @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. £33.00.
Sat 05: Vermont Big Band @ The Seahorse, Whitley Bay. 7:30pm. Tickets: £10.00 (from the venue).
Sat 05: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.

Sun 06: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 06: Learning & Participation Showcase @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm (1:00pm doors). Free. Featuring participants from Play More Jazz! Play More Folk! Blue Jam Singers & more.
Sun 06: Joe Steels Group @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00. Ferg Kilsby, Joe Steels, Ben Lawrence, Paul Susans, John Hirst.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 06: Paul Skerritt @ The Hooch, Quayside, Newcastle. 6:00pm.
Sun 06: Leeway @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 07: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 08: ???

Wed 09: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 09: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 09: Tannery jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm.
Wed 09: Anatole Muster Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £17.50., £12.50. concs.
Wed 09: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED?

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

Sunday, May 16, 2021

Ten albums by Sinatra and a few associated memories. Part Five

Sinatra wanted out of Capitol - be his own boss - and tried to buy Verve from Norman Granz. They couldn't agree on terms which I think is where the bitter hatred they had for each other began. So Frank, like the Jazz Co-op when they were unable to take over the Jazz Café and bought The Globe, set up his Reprise label.

History will see this from different angles. The Reprise sessions aren't as dynamic or as memorable as the Capitol or even some of the later Columbia's but I love these two.

8. Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain. Reprise 1962 arr. Bob Farnon.
Farnon, one of the great British (actually Canadian although he did work in GB for many years) arrangers, never quite hit the jackpot for Sinatra like Riddle or Stordahl did. Farnon's forte  was the light, flighty orchestral pieces that were ever a feature of afternoon broadcasts on the BBC Light Programme and, although many of his contemporaries considered him as amongst the greatest composers/arrangers ever, I'm keeping my options open.

What is beautiful about this album is the material. Eleven songs composed by British composers that bear comparison with their American counterparts.

Garden in the Rain is terrific and is credited to Carroll Gibbons - 'ang on, wasn't Gibbons born in Massachusetts?  Poetic licence I suppose as he was resident bandleader at the Savoy Hotel in London for many years which, back then, was second only to being Master of the Queen's Music at Buck House. It's a great tune, a great track and, had Sinatra been British would have probably earned him a knighthood or at least breakfast with a minor royal.

9. Moonlight Sinatra. Reprise 1965 arr. Nelson Riddle. Great title and one deserving of the Beethoven of popular song. All the songs, as the title implies are moonlight related - Moonlight Becomes You; Moon Song; Moonlight Serenade; Reaching For the Moon; I Wished on the Moon; Oh, You Crazy Moon; The Moon Got in my Eyes; Moonlight Mood; Moon Love; The Moon Was Yellow.

Only our man from Hoboken could have thought up such a conception - it would have been lunacy to think otherwise but, 'ang on, didn't Mel Tormé have the same idea five years earlier when he recorded Swingin' on the Moon?

Damn! Mel's album blows Frank's into outer space! Well, Mel did have Marty Paich in his corner and Don Fagerquist and Bud Shank blow some tasty solos...

Still I guess musical bigamy is acceptable!
Lance

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