Bebop Spoken There

David Bailey (photographer): ''When I was 16 I wanted to look like Chet Baker. He was my idol - him and James Dean.'' (Talking Pictures documentary : Four beats to the bar and no cheating April, 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

18445 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 309 of them this year alone and, so far this month (April 20 ) 43,

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

April

Thu 23: FILM: Big Mama Thornton: I Can’t Be Anyone But Me @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 6:15pm. Dir. Robert Clem (2025).
Thu 23: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 23: Eva Fox & the Sound Hounds @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 23: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra & Musicians Unlimited @ ARC, Stockton. 8:00pm. £19.00. inc. bf.

Fri 24: Noel Dennis Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. Dennis, Mark Willams, Andy Champion. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Trio Grand @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Ben Vince + The Exu @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £14.33., £11.16, £8.00. A ‘jazz adjacent’ gig!
Fri 24: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:30pm. £13.20 (inc. bf).
Fri 24: TBC @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.

Sat 25: Giles Strong Quartet @ Hindmarsh Hall, Alnmouth. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Sat 25: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ The Old Cinema Launderette, Durham. 7:30pm (7:00pm doors). £13.20 (inc. bf).
Sat 25: ‘Portrait in Evans’: Noa Levy & Alan Barnes w. Paul Edis Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £24.00. Sage Two. ‘Portrait in Evans’. Levy, Barnes, Edis, Andy Champion & Steve Hanley.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 26: Daniel John Martin w. Swing Manouche @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 2:00pm. £10.00.
Sun 26: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ Juke Shed, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Ni Maxine + Nauta @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.
Sun 26: Joe Steels @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. Free (donations direct to the musicians). Joe Steels & Friends.
Sun 26: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £16.00., £14.00., £7.00.

Mon 27: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 27: House of Blues @ the Globe, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £7.00., £5.00. advance. A student-led jazz session. ‘House of Blues’ is, perhaps, a misnomer.
Mon 27: Littlewood Trio @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £10.00 + bf, £7.00. + bf.

Tue 28: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 29: Long/Remon/Zilker @ The Ship Isis, Sunderland. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.00. bf. Tom Remon plays Irish folk!
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Hackney Colliery Band @ Alnwick Playhouse. 7:30pm. £25.00.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Album review: Samara Joy - Samara Joy.

Samara Joy (vocals); Pasquale Grasso (guitar); Ari Roland (bass); Kenny Washington (drums).

This year has been absolutely outstanding on the vocal front. Sarah Moule; Veronica Swift; Wilma Baan, to mention but three, have set my pulses racing - now there's another!

Samara Joy aced the 2019 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competion and now, at the ripe old age of 21, releases her debut album - it's an absolute killer!

That most of the songs were written before her mother, maybe even her grandmother, was born is irrelevant. It may sound clichéd but she really does revitalise these gassers. A typical example being Everything Happens to me. The ballad, normally taken at a soporific tempo, is given a medium to up boot that does no harm at all.

In actual fact, of the twelve tracks, only five were familiar to me the other seven were either new or only vaguely remembered plus, the fact that some of them were originally recorded by Nat 'King' Cole only serves to emphasise the quality of these versions.

In case you think I'm going over the top, I haven't even started!

Behind every great singer there's a great accompanist or, in this case, three of the best.

Grasso is described in the blurb as 'a budding star'. Delete 'budding' this guy has well and truly blossomed - if he hasn't then the guitar league tables are due to be rewritten. On bass, Roland proves to be as impressive playing arco as he is on pizz. Kenny Washington? No need to answer that question other than with 'tops'.

It's easy to see why Samara won the Sarah Vaughan Competition - if Sassy herself had been competing it wouldn't have been a shoo-in for The Divine One!

OMG! There's a ringer - track 13 isn't listed on the album cover but it's the best version of this tune I've ever heard! Sorry, you'll have to buy the disc to find out what it is. Suffice to say, I think Duke would have approved.

Lance

YouTube.

Samara Joy plays Ronnie Scott's on July 6 and the album is officially released by Whirlwind Recordings (WR4776) on July 9.

Stardust; Everything Happens to me; If You Never Fall in Love with me; Let's Dream in the Moonlight; It Only Happens Once; Jim; The Trouble with me is You; If You'd Stay the Way I Dream About You; Lover Man; Only a Moment Ago; Moonglow; But Beautiful.

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2 comments :

SEH said...

Lance, you write so passionately! I can’t wait to listen to this album and I’m sure that my ears will agree with yours.
All the best from down South,
Sarah (Sarah Ellen Hughes)

Thursday, June 10, 2021 11:34:00 pm
Lance said...

Sarah, it really is a great album and one I'm sure you will enjoy.
Lance.
ps: apologies for the delay in posting your comment the pc is in huffy mode at the moment!

Tuesday, July 27, 2021 10:03:00 pm

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