Bebop Spoken There

Ludovic Beier (Django Festival Allstars): ''Manouche means 'free man,' and gypsies have been travelers since they migrated west from India to Europe.'' (DownBeat March, 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

18361 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 215 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Mar. 8 ), 25

From This Moment On ...

March

Thu 12: Boomslang @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Thu 12: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 13: Paul Skerritt Quartet @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm . £9.00.
Fri 13: The SH#RP Collective @ Jesmond Library, Newcastle. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 13: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 13: Soothsayers + Rookie Numbers @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £17.51., £14.33., £11.16.

Sat 14: The Too Bad Jims @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors). £13.20., £11.00. R&B.
Sat 14: NUJO @ Venue, Newcastle University Students’ Union. Time TBC. £15.00. supporter; £10.00. standard; £5.00. student. Seated event.

Sun 15: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free.
Sun 15: The Too Bad Jims @ The Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. £12.00. R&B.
Sun 15: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 15: Rebecca Poole @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £14.00., £12.00., £7.00. Poole w. Dean Stockdale & Ken Marley. CANCELLED!

Mon 16: Milne Glendinning Band @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm.
Mon 16: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 16: Russ Morgan Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 17: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Alan Law (piano); Paul Grainger (double bass); Scotty Adair (drums).

Wed 18: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 18: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 18: The ’58 Jazz Collective @ Hartlepool Cricket Club, West Park, 7:30pm. £7.00.
Wed 18: Brand New Heavies @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 7:30pm.
Wed 18: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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, 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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