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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

17985(and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 306 of them this year alone and, so far, 62 this month (April 26).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Wed 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 30: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 30: International Jazz Day @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £16.00.; £14.00. adv.. Feat. Guido Spannocchi, John Pope & Steve Hanley + Take it to the Bridge participants + SH#RP Collective with Lindsay Hannon - open rehearsal.

MAY 2025

Thu 01: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Member’s Contribution.
Thu 01: Alabaster de Plume @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm.
Thu 01: Living in Shadows + OUTRI @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Thu 01: The Shayo Experiment @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Shayo Oshodi & Liam Oliver.
Thu 01: Tees Hot Club @ Dorman’s, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm. Free. Guests: Jeremy McMurray (piano); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Mark Toomey (alto sax); Mark Hawkins (drums); Adrian Beadnell (bass).

Fri 02: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 02: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 02: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Seaburn. 4:30-6:15pm. Free.
Fri 02: Nauta @ Central Bar, Gateshead. 7:00pm. £7.50. A ‘Nauta’s House’ gig featuring Nauta & guests Shayo Oshodi & David Gray.
Fri 02: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 02: Dom Pipkin @ Cluny 2, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Solo piano.
Fri 02: Abbie Finn Trio @ Saltburn Community Hall. 7:30pm. £12.00. + bf.

Sat 03: Hot Fingers @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 03: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Summer Samba Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 03: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 03: Struggle Buggy @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 03: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 03: Postmodern Jukebox @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Sat 03: NUJO Jazz Jam @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £3.00. + bf.
Sat 03: Eva Fox & the Jazz Guys @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 03: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:30pm. Free.

Sun 04: Smokin’ Spitfires @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 12:45pm. £7.50.
Sun 04: Sax Choir @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Spilt Milk @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:00-5:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 04: Boys of Brass @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free.
Sun 04: Ben Crosland Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 05: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 05: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 06: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Victoria & Albert Inn, Seaton Delaval. 12:30pm. £14.00. Tel: 0191 237 3697. ‘Victory in Europe Afternoon Tea’ (VE Day 80th anniversary).
Tue 06: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law, Paul Grainger, John Hirst.
Tue 06: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.
Tue 06: FILM: Whiplash @ Tyneside Cinema, Newcastle. 8:15pm.

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, October 07, 2021

Album review: Lee Morgan – The Complete Live at the Lighthouse (Blue Note)

Lee Morgan (trumpet, flugelhorn); Bennie Maupin (tenor sax, flute, bass clarinet); Harold Mabern (piano); Jymie Merritt (bass); Mickey Roker (drums) + Jack DeJohnette (drums on one tk)

The postman struggled up the drive with this box set and two tiles were shattered in the hallway as it landed. I’m glad I ordered the 8 CD version as I understand that the 12 LP sets are delivered by donkeys liberated from their usual travails of carrying overweight Americans up to castles in Crete. It is a bit of a beast, but it’s also what you would have wanted from 8 CDs of Lee Morgan with a hot band raising the roof in Hermosa Beach, California in July 1970.

This is, effectively, the third iteration of Lee Morgan, whose career had been derailed twice by drugs. By the time of the visit to The Lighthouse he was back up to full strength. Credit for this is usually given to Helen Moore/Morgan who had taken him in, fed him, retrieved his horn and his coat from the pawnbrokers and would effectively manage the rest of his career. Less than two years later she would also be the one who shot him dead. You have to get through that cloud hanging over this music to get to the gems within.

Some of this music had been released as a single album and then later as a 3 CD set but this is the first release that contains all of the music from 12 sets played across 3 days. There are, actually, only 33 tracks, (excluding introductions), 21 of which haven’t been released before, so as you can imagine they all, pretty much, get a good seeing to. In fact, the best way to think about this release is to take everything you ever liked about Lee Morgan and kick it up a notch or three in terms of the excitement level. Many of the tracks clock in over ten minutes, with the longest Absolutions, over 22 minutes. This departure from the sharp, punchy tracks such as studio classics like The Sidewinder is more about the opportunity to expand and to work ideas through; it’s about freedom from constraint rather than a lack of discipline. Everyone solos as if they have a lot to say and all the time they need in which to say it.

Morgan emphasises during the introductions that they will be playing mainly new material so The Sidewinder gets one run through whilst others (Nommo, Absolutions, The Beehive, I Remember Britt) each crop up a few times. It’s a lesson in the history of bop from its earliest shapes in the late 40s to the driving hard bop of Blakey up to the then new developments, now regarded as post-bop. The band wouldn’t stay together for long after this session, with Maupin, for example, joining Miles Davis and playing on Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson, On the Corner and Big Fun.

Four of the five band members contribute compositions, with only Roker missing out, though Morgan’s contributions are two tunes from much earlier in his career. This gives the collection quite disparate voices that still cohere as a single whole. Coltrane’s influence shines through in Maupin’s playing while Mabern covers a spectrum from rapid runs to heavy percussive playing. Merritt is the anchor, solidly rooting the rest of the band. Morgan plays with great power, but stylistically, has moved on from his earlier working of rhythm and blues into jazz and, on these recordings, displays a wider range of voicings that fits in with his colleagues’ expansive compositions.

This was an unwise purchase but my buyer’s remorse dissipated more and more as I worked my way through it. Probably another one for your Christmas list. Dave Sayer

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