Bebop Spoken There

Dominick "Domo" Branch: ''Most people say drummers can't write, they're just time-keepers only beating on things. But I have a very musical brain.'' (DownBeat February, 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

18288 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 142 of them this year alone and, so far this month (Feb. 14), 42

From This Moment On ...

February

Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.
Fri 20: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 20: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 20: Squabble @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:00pm. Steve Chambers (organ); Jude Murphy (double bass, vocals); Sid White (drums).
Fri 20: Jive Aces @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 7:00pm (6:30pm doors).
Fri 20: Alex Clarke w. Dean Stockdale Trio @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. Clarke w. Dean Stockdale, Mick Shoulder, Abbie Finn.

Sat 21: ???

Sun 22: Musicians Unlimited: Big Band Blast @ West Hartlepool RFC. 1:00-3:00pm . Free.
Sun 22: Joe Steels Group @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Sun 22: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 22: Harben Kay Quartet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 23: Joe Steels Group @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 1:00pm. A Blue Patch album tour.
Mon 23: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 24: Finn-Keeble Group @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. £11.00.
Tue 24: Liam Oliver & Shayo Oshodi @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

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: Geordie Jazz Jam @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. Newcastle University jam session. All welcome.
Wed 25: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 26: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £6.50.
Thu 26: Shalala @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £7.00 adv.
Thu 26: Mick Cantwell Band @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Blues.

Fri 27: Joe Steels Group @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT! A Blue Patch album tour.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ Bishop Auckland Methodist Church. 1:00pm. £9.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).
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: Radio Hito + Eddie Prévost, Silvain Schmid & Tom Wheatley @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm (doors). £12.22., £10.10., £8.00.
Fri 27: Giacomo Smith w Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm.
Fri 27: Alan Barnes w. Mick Shoulder Trio @ The Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £15.00. Trio: Rick Laughlin (piano); Mick Shoulder (double bass); Tim Johnston (drums).

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, June 23, 2022

Album review: Duke Ellington Live at the Berlin Jazz Festival 1969-1973 - The Lost Recordings

Duke Ellington (piano); Joe Benjamin (bass); Quinten 'Rocky' White Jr. (drums); Harold 'Money' Johnson (trumpet); Paul Gonsalves (tenor sax); Harry Carney (baritone sax/clarinet). Rec. Nov. 2, 1973. 

Cat Anderson, Cootie Williams, Mercer Ellington (trumpets); Lawrence Brown?? (trombones); Johnny Hodges, Russell Procope (alto sax); Paul Gonsalves, Harold Ashby (tenor sax); Harry Carney (baritone sax); Duke Ellington (piano); Wild Bill Davis (organ); Rufus Jones (drums), Baby Lawrence (tap dancing). Rec. Nov. 8, 1969.

The personnel in the booklet is incomplete. Based on my recollections of seeing both houses of Ellington's 70th Birthday Concert on Nov. 27, 1969 at Newcastle City Hall I think I can safely add Chuck Connors (trombone), Norris Turney (alto sax), Victor Gaskin (bass) and possibly, Rolf Ericsson (trumpet). The notes are in French, German and English and, because of the lack of visual contrast between text and background are almost indecipherable - will they never learn?

However, it's the music that counts so, unlike the producers, I'll treat the album chronologically and start with the full orchestra on track 7.

La Plus Belle Africaine; El Gato; I Can't Get Started; Caravan; Mood Indigo; Satin Doll; Meditation. 

Wild Bill Davis plays Hammond on Satin Doll, and Cat Anderson takes it out way up high. He does likewise on his party piece El Gato. Nice trumpet feature on I Can't Get Started by (Mercer, Rolf, Cootie?). Caravan, Mood Indigo and Meditation follow. The latter piece is from an Ellington Sacred Concert which prompts me to mention that if you happen to be in York next Wednesday (June 29) then pop into The Minster to hear the Clark Tracey Orchestra playing Ellington's Sacred Concert starting at 5:30pm.

Meanwhile, back at the Berlin Philharmonie in 1973, Duke appears with a sextet opening with a delightful piano feature - Piano Improvisation No 1. Pitter, Patter, Panther has Joe Benjamin paying tribute to the first great bassist Jimmy Blanton. Money Johnson solos on Take the A Train, Carney steps up for a luscious version of Sophisticated Lady, and Baby Lawrence takes us out with some tap dancing expertly accompanied by piano and bass.

I'm not going to pretend that this is indispensable Ellington. There is so much great Ellington available - most of which is better packaged - that only the completist will crawl over burning sand for it. Nevertheless, it's well worth checking out - Lance

Available July 1 via usual suspects.

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