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Bebop Spoken There

Van Morrison: ''Basically, I'm coming from jazz. Not pop, not rock, not what's commercial. That's where I started, and that's still where I am. I feel the same as I did when I was listening to Louis Armstrong, Lead Belly, Jelly Roll Morton''. (The Northern Echo, 12 June 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

1803759 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 480 of them this year alone and, so far, 58 this month (June 18).

From This Moment On ...

JUNE 2025

Sat 21: Jason Holcomb Jazz Ensemble @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 5:30-7:30pm. Free. A 'Sunderland Year of Music' event.
Sat 21: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 21: Papa G’s Troves @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 22: Phoenix 4 @ Wallington, Northumberland. 12 noon-1:00pm & 2:00-3:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington, Northumberland. 1:00-2:00pm. Tel: 01670 773606. National Trust admission prices apply. ‘Tunes in the Blooms’.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Jason Isaacs Trio @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 4:00pm. £18.00. + £1.08 bf.
Sun 22: JazzMain @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: MSK Trio @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. £9.00. at the door; £8.20. (inc £0.20 bf) online, in advance.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club (1:00pm). Free.

Tues 24: ???

Wed 25: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 25: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 25: The Magpies of Swing @ The Roxy, Leadgate, Co. Durham. 7:30pm. A Ginger Jitterbugs swing dance event, all welcome.

Thu 26: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Brass Instruments & the use of mutes.

Fri 27: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm.
Fri 27: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 27: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 27: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 8:00pm. ‘Time After Time’.

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

Friday, April 08, 2022

Album review: Dave McMurray - Grateful Deadication

Dave McMurray (tenor/baritone sax/keys/perc.); Ibrahim Jones, Don Was (bass); Jeff Canady, Jay Lane (drums); Wayne Gerard, Greg Leisz, Bob Weir (guitars); Larry Fratangelo, Sowanda Keito (perc.); Luis Resto (piano); Maurice O’Neal (keys), Betty LaVette (vocals).

I don’t know how many jazzers are also Deadheads, several I imagine. Despite being nominally a rock group the Grateful Dead, rooted in folk and blues, also incorporated every other type of American music (soul, jazz, funk, country, modern classical, electronic) into their grooves and whatever they came up with was always a platform for endless improvisation in any case. 

This album by Dave McMurray is a fitting, I nearly said tribute, but it feels more than that and more than a simple covers album as well. Having the sax as the main lead removes the need for anyone to play the Jerry Garcia lead guitar role but still leaves Ibrahim Jones with the duty to carry the bass duties showing how crucial Phil Lesh was to the feel of the Dead.

McMurray has taken songs from across the full Dead lifespan, from the early Dark Star, The Eleven, and Loser to the late ‘hit’ in Touch of Grey and proves again the breadth of the Dead’s music.  He shows his audacity in taking on Dark Star, the Deadhead’s iconic, holy, sacred ‘text’ but he pulls it off with aplomb, rolling into it the same way that the Dead would, building over the bass line, almost sneaking the melody in as if trying to disguise what it is for as long as possible. This is classic Dead and McMurray alludes to the attraction that the group’s melodic and rhythmic complexity had for him and that drew him to making this album. He says that he ‘looks for songs that have magic in them’. Well, he’s found them here.

McMurray is in full voice throughout and, to a great extent, this is a classic Blue Note blowing session. Now we need to start a campaign to get Radio 2 to realise that the version of Eyes of the World that graces this album should be part of the perfect summer soundtrack. (Rather than endless Electric Light Orchestra).

I hadn’t heard of Dave McMurray before and wasn’t too excited when I did find bits by him on the net, but he’s really raised his game for this one. This album was available for buttons on the big river around Christmas time and is available from all the usual outlets.

There is a cracking video HERE on YouTube of Dave McMurray and band taking on Fire On The Mountain and Dave McMurray’s website is HERE - 
Dave Sayer

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