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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

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

Thursday, August 26, 2021

Album review: Harvey / O'Higgins Project - that's the way to live

Dave O'Higgins (tenor sax); Graham Harvey (piano); Jeremy Brown (bass); Josh Morrison (drums).

A Dave O'Higgins' album is alway a treat. Whether with Mrs O'Higgins, the Brothers Brubeck or a top class rhythm section such as we have here the end result is always one that you can confidently splash the cash on, safe in the knowledge that you won't be demanding your money back the next day.

At one time it was fashionable to say that certain British musicians were world class even though that world may not have extended much further than Frith St.

Today, that world is borderless and Dave O'Higgins, like so many UK musicians, is finding that jazz these days is much more of a level playing field.

O'Higgins has a great tenor sound, the kind of sound that Hank Mobley had in abundance and that Stan Getz may have had had he recorded with a Blue Note rhythm section or, come to that, with these three guys! 

Harvey, Brown and Morrison have appeared with O'Higgins at the 606 and those sessions that I heard via livestreams whetted my appetite for this album of standards and originals - two by O'Higgins*  and one each from Harvey,** Morrison*** and Brown****.

Referring to playing standards, Harvey explained: "The tradition of jazz provides an infinite horizon to experiment and create. Just as a Bach fugue is open to a myriad of creative interpretations, so is the blues or a great standard". 

One thing is sure, these four guys have a multi-myriad of creative interpretations in their communal and individual bag of tricks.

If I had to choose but one moment in the album it would be O'Higgins' out of tempo reading of the verse to More Than You Know. It's pure magic but, then again, so is Harvey's piano solo on the same tune.

Highly recommended, swinging post-bop jazz for anyone with ears for the truth. Lance

Available Sept. 10 Ubuntu Music UBU0094. Try/Buy.

I Wish I Knew: Chlo-e (Song of the Swamp); That's What You're Gonna Get (***); Mesa ((****); Tropical Paradise (*); Segment; More Than You Know; That's the Way to Live! (**); Stir Crazy (*); Autumn Nocturne.

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