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Bebop Spoken There

John McLaughlin: '' A Love Supreme coincided with my search for meaning in life". (DownBeat, March 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

17873 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 194 of them this year alone and, so far, 41 this month (March 14).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

Thu 20: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED PERMANENTLY!
Thu 20: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Nicknames.
Thu 20: Terri Green Experience @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £15.90.
Thu 20: King Bees @ The Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). Superb blues band.
Thu 20: Lindsay Hannon Trio @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Hannon’s ‘Tom Waits for No Man’ set.
Thu 20: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:30pm. Free.

Fri 21: Paul Skerritt @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 21: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 21: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 21: Giles Strong Quartet @ 1719, Hendon, Sunderland. 7:30pm. CANCELLED!
Fri 21: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Gosforth Civic Theatre, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Featuring special guest Martin Litton (piano).

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: Swamp Stomp String Band @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm.
Sat 22: Rivkala @ 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: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: The Great Deceivers @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Tom Atkinson & co play King Crimson (1969-1974). Atkinson (guitar); Josh Bentham (alto sax); Stu Dawson (bass); Jeff Armstrong (drums).

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

Tue 25: Fred Wesley & the New JB’s @ The Cluny. 7:30pm (doors). £27.50. POSTPONED! New date Wednesday 26 November.

Thu 27: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

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

Tuesday, May 03, 2022

Cheltenham Jazz Festival: Paul Dunmall Quartet @ Parabola Arts Centre - May 1.

Paul Dunmall (tenor, soprano sax); Liam Noble (piano); John Edwards (double bass); Mark Sanders (drums).

Is it really three years since we were last in Cheltenham?!

 

As preparation for this gig I bought my first Dunmall album and streamed another on the way down. So far so good and the gig was essentially more of the same. I like free jazz but maintain what I consider healthy scepticism. It’s all about making it up as they go along, though within tried and tested motifs, licks, riffs, melodies, rhythms, harmonies, timbre, textures etc. This isn’t necessarily a criticism and some say the music’s child-like, which isn’t necessarily a criticism either.


I think it’s necessary to distinguish between free jazz and total improvisation, the latter commonly mistaken for the former where instruments associated with jazz are used. In my view, the latter is simply the naked emperor doodling, but this band  certainly weren’t that. A standard saxophone quartet and this was definitely jazz, encompassing the music’s rich history, startling musicianship and plenty of soul.

They started out with Dunmall on soprano and Edwards playing bowed bass, enabling them to change the dynamics twice, firstly by ditching the bow and then by switching to tenor. Lots of juxtaposition between quiet and rousing moments and between pairings of the musicians, responding to each other's new directions masterfully. Inventive drumming and use of percussion can be crucial and Sanders was all over it.

 

We’d only just arrived in Cheltenham and hit the ground running so, with the next show starting precisely when this one finished, we made an early exit. I can think of people in my native north east who would have given their eye teeth to have been here, who’d no doubt also claim that I’d missed all sorts of things, but to me, while the claim is that it’s always different, and on one level it is, to these ears it always ends up sounding the same.


This music is all about a one-off, never to be repeated event and doesn’t necessarily benefit from repeated listening – again not necessarily a bad thing - so could benefit as the industry increasingly moves from CD to streaming.

 

A few years ago I saw Archie Shepp deliver some riveting free-jazz at Cheltenham, which ranks with the greatest live music I’ve ever heard, but, I’ve also heard improvised music which I found unlistenable and insulting. This was neither, though I could have happily stayed til the end, but Mrs T – more selective about her jazz - was less keen. Steve T  

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