Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: ''It was then that Coltrane came along and single-handedly brought this dimension of spirituality into jazz. It was a pivotal experience to me.'' (DownBeat September, 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

18994 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 858 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Oct. 12) 37.

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

October.

Mon 12: Jack Pearce Quintet @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 12: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 13: Alan Law @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free. Alan Law (piano) w. Julija Jacenaite (vocals).

Wed 14: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 4:45pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 14: Jam session @ The Tannery, Hexham. 7:00pm. Free.
Wed 14: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 14: A Night of Stevie Wonder @ Holy GrAle, Durham. 7:30pm. £3.00.; £2.50. A Durham University Jazz Society event.
Wed 14: NW FRQNC @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.00. Selina Albright, Gianni Vancini.
Wed 14: Jacob Egglestone Trio @ Elder Beer, Heaton, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.

Thu 15: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 15: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £5.00.
Thu 15: Leah Kirk: A Strange Affair @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30pm. Free (donations). Leah Kirk (vocals); Alan Law (keyboards); Paul Grainger (double bass).
Thu 15: Jeremy McMurray’s Pocket Jazz Orchestra @ Arc, Stockton. 8:00pm. PJO w. guest Graham Hardy (trumpet).

Fri 16: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 16: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 16: Ancient Infinity Orchestra @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm.
Fri 16: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01. adv.; £15.00. on the door. Old Black Cat Jazz Club.
Fri 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Repas 7 by Night, West St., Berwick. 8:00pm. Free.

Sat 17: SunOrbitUs @ Culture House, Sunderland. 11:00am - 5:00pm. Closing event in a year-long piece of music. 11:00am-1:00pm Improvisation workshop w. Faye MacCalman; 2:00-5:00pm Collective Improvised Performance by Sunderland residents. SOLD OUT!
Sat 17: Tees Bay Swing Band @ Blacksmith’s Arms, Hartlepool. 1:30pm. Free. Open rehearsal.
Sat 17: Martin Taylor @ Bowes Museum, Barnard Castle. 7:30pm. £48.72; £43.37. Solo guitar. SOLD OUT!

Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Tyne Bar, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Jump jive.
Sun 18: Guisborough Big Band @ Redcar Rugby Club. 5:00-8:00pm. ‘Charity Big Band Birthday Bash’ in aid of Parkinson’s UK & Young Sounds UK. Free (donations on the door).
Sun 18: Martin Taylor @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £23.30. Solo guitar.
Sun 18: Ben Crosland Quartet with Steve Waterman @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Thursday, December 02, 2021

Album review: Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings

Art Blakey (drums); Lee Morgan (trumpet); Wayne Shorter (tenor sax); Bobby Timmons (piano); Jymie Merritt (bass).

Another  recently discovered, previously unreleased, gem from a record company's vaults which, in this case, is Blue Note. 

Say no more! Blue Note and  Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers is an unbeatable combination that, sixty years on, still sounds good.

This is one of the classic Messenger line-ups (weren't they all classic line-ups?) and it's pure magic hearing Morgan and Shorter stretching out at length even if the material is over-familiar - these guys could make Pop Goes the Weasel sound like the most exciting thing you've ever heard (fortunately they don't face that challenge here!).

Two versions of Now's the Time, both bookended with extensive drums solos, Blakey's no shrinking violet and he could drive a band like few others - pushing the soloists to and beyond their limits. The first lasted for over 22 minutes, the second a miserly 17 minutes

It wouldn't be a Jazz Messengers' gig without Bobby Timmons' Moanin' and there's 13 minutes of it whilst Benny Golson's Blues March is on parade for 11 minutes and 45 seconds.

Morgan is featured on 'Round Midnight, the sole ballad of the set, and he squeezes just the right amount of emotion out of it without any over-sentimentality.

A Night in Tunisia is the showstopper. Buhaina pounding out multi-cultural rhythms before stopping abruptly and leaving Morgan to play unaccompanied. The trumpet player threw in a few crowd-pleasing licks that didn't detract from a peerless display of dexterity. We thought that it was all over until Wayne Shorter stepped up to the plate and  did likewise - it was now!

This must have been quite a concert and I haven't given Timmons and Merritt the credit they deserved. Both were impressive and, as for the leader - simply the greatest ... 103 minutes of magic - Lance 

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers First Flight To Tokyo: The Lost 1961 Recordings. Available Dec. 10 on Blue Note double CD or double vinyl LP.

Now's the Time (1); Moanin'; Blues March; The Theme (1); Dat Dere; 'Round Midnight; Now's the Time (2); A Night in Tunisia; The Theme (2)

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