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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17777 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 98 of them this year alone and, so far, 23 this month (Feb.8).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 15: Joseph Carville Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 15: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Sat 15: Elkie Brooks @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm. ‘The Long Farewell Tour’.
Sat 15: Milne Glendinning Band @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 16: MOBO Song @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 12 noon. Free, performances on the concourse. Line-up inc. Jazz Attack (on stage time TBC) & Jambone (12:20pm).
Sun 16: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 1:00-2:45pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 16: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 16: MOBO Awards Fringe 2025: BBC Introducing NE X MOBO Showcase @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 6:00pm. Free (ticketed). Line-up inc. Jambone, Knats, Rivkala, SwanNek.
Sun 16: The Shayo Experience @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 16: Gerry Richardson Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. .

Mon 17: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 17: Matt Forster Quartet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 17: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 18: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.

Wed 19: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 19: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 19: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 20: James Birkett & Emma Fisk @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Jazz Milestones - 1975.
Thu 20: Renegade Brass Band @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 20: Orange Claw Hammer + Peony @ The Globe, Newcastle.7:30pm. Orange Claw Hammer play Captain Beefheart.
Thu 20: Jeremy McMurray & the Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. Featuring special guest Zoë Gilby.

Fri 21: JazzMain @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Joe Steels Trio @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. TBC.
Fri 21: Emma Rawicz w. Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.

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

Tuesday, June 08, 2021

Eleven Jazz Coffee Table Photo Books

Jazz and photography have always seemed to me to be natural bedfellows. Sometimes, if the photographer (jazzographer?) captures the right moment, the player's expression tells you almost as much as the actual music does. Some musicians are naturally photogenic - whether by accident or intent - they are a photographer's dream.

BSH is proud to have had access to some superb shots from Ken Drew, Malcolm Sinclair and other hotshots both past and present. Even when restricted to screenshots, Ken Drew's collages are achieving legendary status.

However, this exercise isn't about the present but a look at some of the classic photo books I've collected over the years.

K.Abt: Jazz Giants. A Visual Retrospective Compilation. 1986, Billboard Publications. 
Not all of the photos are by Abt and several of them are by other photographers whose photos appear in their own collections. However, it's worthy of any coffee table, not to mention the shelves of a library near you.

William Claxton: Jazz Seen. 1989 Taschen. 
Perhaps the greatest of all the jazz camera men, he captures the images almost as if he was part of the band!

Gene Fernett: A Thousand Golden Horns. 1966 The Pendell Company.
A look at the big bands and the dance bands of the thirties and forties. the text is probably more interesting than the photos although they do complement each other.

William P. Gottlieb: The Golden Age of Jazz. 1979 Quartet Books. 
As the title implies the images move from early jazz to early Bird/Miles. Lots of text accompanies the photos making it more than a mere visual tome.

Orrin Keepnews & Bill Grauer Jr.: A Pictorial History of Jazz. 1965 Spring Books.
I don't know if it's been re-published but my copy does the music no favours. Dull matt photos that lose the impact of the glossies in the other books. this is a shame as the text is great but, hey we're looking back 56 years and the photos a helluva lot longer...!

Jim Marshall: Jazz. 2005. Chronicle Books LLC (San Francisco). 
Some terrific shots by Marshall who began as a rock photographer and found himself equally at home in the jazz world. I think  this is, maybe, my favourite.

Robert Nippoldt: Jazz - New York in the Roaring Twenties. 2013 Taschen.
This doesn't really belong as they aren't photographs but, the drawings by Nippoldt are excellent - plus there's a CD that comes with it so, as well as the sketches, we hear music by Jelly Roll, Fats, Duke, Bessie, Bix, Venuti and many more. It was originally reviewed by myself on BSH in 2013.

David Redfern: david redfern's jazz album. 1980 Eel Pie Publishing.
Undoubtedly the greatest UK jazz photographer of his generation. His photo of Buddy Rich is considered the definitive one.

Michael Randolph: "Popsie" =N.Y.= Popular Music through the camera lens of William "Popsie" Randolph. 2007 Hal Leonard.
"Popsie" had the best possible access for shooting jazz musicians (and later rock musicians) he was band manager for both Benny Goodman and Woody Herman in their greatest years. He didn't stop there, he moved on to Broadway (one of the best photos of Streisand - he even makes her look beautiful) and on to the rock, pop, and soul legends of the day.

David D.Spitzer: Jazzshots. 1979 Zerkim Press.
Not quite sure how I stumbled across this gem - probably in a bookshop - but the black and white shots are brilliant. there's a one of Dexter Gordon that runs the famous one with the spiralling smoke pretty damn close.

Peter Symes & Peter Gamble (text): Focus on Jazz. 1988 Robert Hale.
I know this takes the total to eleven but I almost left it out which would have been most unfair. Also I note that it  gives Humph's date of birth as May 23, 1921 which meant he would have been 100 last month something that slipped our eagle eyes and for which we are duly apologetic.

Of course there are many more books. I don't, unfortunately, have the Milt Hinton book which, I'm told, is terrific. There's also a Facebook page - Rare Jazz Photos - that has some good, often previously unpublished, photos of the greats. It's well worth checking out.
Lance

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