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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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Old Library, Auckland Castle, Bishop Auckland. 12 noon-2:00pm (two sets). £12.00. admission (card or cash at the door). Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums). Note change of venue, no longer at Mrs M’s as advertised, the concert will be in the Old Library (Bishop Auckland Jazz’s regular venue). Important! It’s a ‘BYOB’ arrangement - ie bring your own booze (and/or tea, coffee, soft drinks).
Fri 31: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 31: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 31: Café Orkestar @ Café Under the Spire, Gateshead. 6:00pm. ‘Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Balkan & More!’.
Fri 31: Nothing in Rambling @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £10.00. + bf. Country blues duo.
Fri 31 Zoë Gilby Quartet @ Wylam Institute. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £15.00. + £1.50. bf.
Fri 31: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. £10.00 + bf. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.
Fri 31: Alan Barnes Quartet @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00 Barnes (alto sax, baritone sax, clarinet); Alan Law (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
Fri 31: SwanNek + Rivkala @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 8:00pm. SwanNek’s new single launch gig. Pilgrim, formerly Hoochie Coochie.

February 2025

Sat 01: Alan Barnes & John Hallam with the Tom Kincaid Trio @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning - Cy Coleman’s Witchcraft. Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Darling Dollies @ St George’s Church, Jesmond, Newcastle. 3:00pm. £10.00. Vocal trio.
Sat 01: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 01: Jeff Hewer Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Western swing etc.

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

Saturday, June 26, 2021

Album review: John McLaughlin - Liberation Time

It was always going to be something ’big’ to get me out of lockdown/isolation/quarantine – whatever it is I’ve been doing for the last year and a half – and John McLaughlin has, for almost half a century,  been a ‘big’ musician in my life. I’m always sceptical of instrumental albums which claim to represent a narrative, and this is no exception.

It’s a short set, presumably to comply with
the alleged vinyl revival, and looks backwards in other respects too, considering John has always been a fearless innovator, but is no worse for that.

As the Spirit Sings gets straight to it with a strong motif in the melody, John soloing first before acoustic piano, busy drumming throughout. At seventy nine and with early on-set arthritis, his chops are still extraordinary. His sound is in line with his recent work with the Fourth Dimension, with not quite the fire or excess of the original Mahavishnu Orchestra, depending on your point of view.     

I was well into the set when I realised it isn’t all by his current band the Fourth Dimension, though my instinct was correct that it’s Gary Husband on piano. It then put me in mind of Electric Guitarist from 1978, which went some way in recreating his various ensembles up to that point.

Singing our Secrets slows things down, beginning with a solo piano intro. Information is scant but I’m guessing he starts the track playing synclavier, followed by a brief piano solo introducing a straight-ahead vibe to the album, before John opens up on electric through to the close.

Lockdown Blues is by the Fourth Dimension and can be viewed on YouTube. It features each of the band, with Husband now on electric piano for the first time, an understated funky bass solo from Etienne Mbappe, but is most notable for Ranjit Barot’s konecal singing over standard western drum kit, which brings in John for the final solo.

Right Here Right Now Right On is perhaps the strongest track here, tenor saxophonist Julian Siegel (of Partisans' fame) acquitting himself magnificently on the most standard jazz I can remember from John since the start of the seventies.        

Two solo piano pieces follow, the first time John’s played the instrument on record since the Santana collaboration of 1973. The first is called Mila Repa, after a Tibetan Siddha and accomplished Buddhist, reflecting John’s lifetime devotion to Eastern Spiritualism. The two tracks total just over four minutes so don’t outstay their welcome.

The final track is the paciest track on the set and the most joyous – perhaps representing the
end of the pandemic – with John taking an extended solo, reflecting the influence of horn players and especially John Coltrane, and the wealth of ideas which still flow through his music.

There’s nothing here to surprise the McLaughlin enthusiast or enlighten anybody about the pandemic, but guitarists will likely continue to be in awe of the man, and anybody who feels he’s moved too far away from jazz for their comfort may welcome something of a return. The Fourth Dimension has marked something of a return to form and consistency for one of the greatest musicians of C20th and this continues the trend nicely. I enjoyed it a lot but doubt I’ll play it too often amongst a busy schedule of listening. Steve T

Available July 16 on the Abstract Logix/Mediastarz label.

John McLaughlin (guitar); Gary Husband (piano); Sam Burgess (bass); Vinnie Colaiuta (drums).

Right Here, Right Now, Right OnJohn McLaughlin (guitar); Julian Siegel (tenor sax); Oz Ezzeldin (piano); Jerome Regard (bass); Nicholas Viccaro (drums).

Lockdown Blues - Fourth Dimension: John McLaughlin (guitar); Gary Husband (keyboards); Etienne Mbappe (bass); Ranjit Barot (drums, vocal). 

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