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.

Wednesday, July 14, 2021

Album review: Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley - Joy in Bewilderment. Take Two.

Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley wins points across the board for the boldness of his ambition across the 56 minutes and 7 seconds of Joy in Bewilderment. He works the eighteen musicians at his disposal through some tremendous arrangements, sweeping across the canvas from the opening title track by the string quartet, which evokes Terence Blanchard’s  A Tale of God’s Will ( a Requiem for Katrina) in its melancholy and solemnity. By the end of the album, on You Can’t Whistle a Haircut, we are the other end of a story arc in a world of furious, joyous, escapist free jazz as if all the confusions and contradictions have been resolved.

To emphasise the continuity across the album, some tracks are natural introductions to the ones that follow. For example the opener, Joy in Bewilderment, stops suddenly and the subsequent, Brew, lifts off from there into a widescreen dance that acts as a bridge to I’ll Do as I Please. Similarly,   Forbidden Words moves through a series of landscapes with the full band, especially the brass at the opening leading into a vocal section and then a short solo piano section that leads into the solo piano of Attachment. Attachment is JC-B’s solo piano piece

The two closers: Ophelia’s Arrival and You Can’t Whistle a Haircut are both exemplars of a big band working as one. They are upbeat, urban and soulful with the latter building throughout and the band working powerfully behind a series of solos to a closing crescendo, the full hairdryer treatment.

Cavanagh-Bailey knows how to work a full band through scenes and textures using the collective as a single instrument. There are opportunities for the soloist to shine, such as Chris Potter’s building solo from a mellow start in I’ll Do as I Please and his duet with JC-B later on the same tune.

I enjoyed this album enormously.

Joshua’s website can be found HERE. Dave Sayer

Available July 16 on Ubuntu-UBU0084 - Details.

Gavin Hibberd   (trumpet); Sam Healey (alto sax); Kyran Matthews, Chris Potter  (tenor sax); Anthony Brown (baritone sax); Ellie Whitley, Rich McVeigh, (trombones); Caoilfhionn Rose (vocals); Daniel Brew (guitar); Daniel Wellins (piano/ keys); Joshua Cavanagh-Brierley (electric bass/double bass/piano); Alan Taylor,    Grant Kershaw, Craig Hanson  (drums) + The Amika Quartet: Simmy Singh, Laura Senuor  (violins);  Lucy Nolan (viola); Peggy Nolan  (cello).

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