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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

Wed 26: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 26: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 26: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 27: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
Fri 28: Spilt Milk @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 28: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £8.00.
Fri 28: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

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

Saturday, April 09, 2022

Album review: The Gil Evans Orchestra Live at Fabrik – Hamburg 1986

Lew Soloff, Shunzo Ono, Miles Evans (trumpets); John Clark (French horn); Dave Taylor (trombone); David Bargeron (trombone/ tuba); Chris Hunter, Bill Evans, Howard Johnson (reeds); Gil Evans (leader/ elec. piano); Pete Levin (synth); Hiram Bullock (guitar); Mark Egan (bass guitar); Victor Lewis (drums); Marilyn Mazur (perc.); Delmar Brown (vocals & synth).

This is a previously unreleased 2 CD (or 3 LP) “live” recording of the Gil Evans Orchestra from October 26, 1986 held at ‘The Fabrik’ venue as part of the eleventh Hamburg Jazz Festival. It showcases Evans’ talent as a bandleader/arranger extraordinaire (and electric piano player) in the third and final phase of his career as a star in the jazz world. We’re lucky that a German broadcaster brought its microphones to record this event at a great location where the ambiance was good and where guest players like Victor Lewis and Marilyn Mazur had been added to an already formidable line-up.

Gil’s Orchestra was of course, like no other – unconventional, challenging to play in and to listen to, unpredictable, extraordinary and unique, lacking discipline and yet disciplined, with just a look or a pointed finger from the maestro to direct operations. The ensemble consisted of people who didn’t ordinarily play together (but who wanted to play for Gil). Musical tension was created by players in different styles and by the juxtaposition of various musical differences. Gil loved “the teetering on the edge” feeling that was the band’s ‘modus operandi’.

The music is as different as is possible to be from the superbly crafted arrangements prepared for the Claude Thornhill Orchestra or ‘The Birth of the Cool’ band or the Davis/Evans collaborations (Miles Ahead, Porgy and Bess, Sketches Of Spain) where Gil would sometimes agonise for days about the placing of a note in the score. Here, we have the free-flowing, Jimi Hendrix-influenced, collective improvisations, huge sonic performances dominated by synths and electronic instruments, some neat section play, and ‘free’ solos with the building and  release of tension throughout. Gil was fascinated by unusual sounds and many are included here – Bullock’s plangent guitar sound adds to his lustrous choice of chords, Levin’s synthesiser can provide backdrops which would normally need at least twelve conventional instruments. Soloff’s lead trumpet – Gillespie influenced but well into free and rock styles.

Many of the band’s usual repertoire are included here – Tony William’s There Comes a Time morphs into Zawinul’s Birdland. Hendrix’s Stone Free, Up from the Skies, Little Wing, and Voodoo Chile. Levin’s Subway, Delmar Brown’s extraordinary feature Sometimes and Gil’s own Orgone (previously known as Gone or Gone, Gone, Gone). Tracks range from 8 mins to 23 mins in length.

Some critics castigated Gil saying these extended pieces were self-indulgent, the solos were too long, the intros interminable. They missed the point of this spectacular, spontaneous, unpredictable, dumbfounding group where wild tumults of sound contrasted with “washes of music” to assail the listener’s ear. The very essence of jazz “The Sound of Surprise”. Dave Brownlow

The Gil Evans Orchestra Live At Fabrik NDR Kulture D77101

Lew S

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