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Bebop Spoken There

Kurt Elling: ''There's something to learn from every musician you play with''. (DownBeat, December 2024).

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

17641 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 16 years ago. 915 of them this year alone and, so far, 60 this month (Dec. 26).

From This Moment On ...

December

Mon 30: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 30: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Wheatsheaf, Benton Sq., Whitley Road, Palmersville NE12 9SU. Tel: 0191 266 8137. 1:00pm. Free. CANCELLED!
Mon 30: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.

Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Lapwing Trio @ Wallington (National Trust), Cambo, Morpeth NE61 4AR. 12 noon & 2:00pm. Admission to site £19.00.
Tue 31: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Tue 31: Archie Brown & Friends @ Tyne Bar, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00-8:00pm. Free.
Tue 31: Jan Spencelayh Quartet @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 5:00-9:00pm. A NYE ‘Dinner-Dance’ event. £42.99. Featuring special guest Mick Donnelly.
Tue 31: Jack Logan @ The Robin Hood Inn, East Wallhouses NE18 0LL. Tel: 01434 672549. 7:00pm. £59.95. ‘New Year’s Eve Gala Dinner’. Rat Pack etc.

January 2025

Wed 01: Revolutionaires @ The Old Barrel (Flatties), Boldon Colliery. 3:30pm. Free. Excellent rhythm & blues.

Thu 02: ???

Fri 03: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 03: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 03: John Gregory @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar.

Sat 04: Rivkala @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sat 04: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £5.00. Xmas party (rescheduled from early December).

Sun 05: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 05: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Americana, jazz & blues.
Sun 05: Papa G’s Troves @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free (donations).

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, August 05, 2022

Album (vinyl) review: Blue Mitchell - Blue Mitchell

Blue Mitchell (trumpet); Jimmy Forrest (tenor sax); Walter Bishop Jr. (piano); Larry Gales (bass); Doug Sides (drums).

There are rare moments in life that one treasures. The evening when a certain person smiles at you from across a crowded room or you go into a pub and they have your favourite ale on draught or, you see the mailman heading for your front door carrying a slim 12" x 12" package.

You open the door ahead of him in case he tries to squeeze it through the letterbox, thank him profusely and then break your fingernails as you feverishly struggle to open it.

Those three scenarios don't always live up to expectations. That certain person may have actually been smiling at someone else, your favorite ale may have just gone off and the 12" x 12" package may have been an Elvis LP for the aging rockabilly living down the street. 

Fortunately, on this occasion, Elvis lost out and the 12" x 12" package contained two superbly presented 180 gram vinyl records of which this is one (more on the other disc soon).

For some obscure (and inexplicable) reason I haven't listened to as much Blue Mitchell as I should have done. After several playings of this reissue (originally issued on the Mainstream label as either Blue Mitchell or Soul Junction in 1971) my aim in life is now to hear as much of his recorded work as I can lay my sweaty paws on. 

His sound, like that of Fats Navarro and Clifford Brown, was as big as a 1960s' Lincoln Continental - most other modern trumpet players of the time were Citroën 2CVs by comparison! A Continental but with a Ferrari turn of speed. 

Equally big sounding is Jimmy Forrest on tenor. If you heard Forrest with Al Grey at the Corner House all those years ago you'll know what I'm talking about. If you didn't then you have a treat in store! 

Walter Bishop Jr. on piano provides solos that offer a contrast to the horns. A player who was always in demand by the top men, he shows his true worth here. Listening again - is that a Fender Rhodes he's playing?

Larry Gales and Doug Sides drive things along funkily making this an album that won't be gathering dust for the foreseeable future.

Apart from the music, the recording quality is superb, I would like to have been able to compare it with the original release which, incidentally, was produced by the legendary Bobby Shad, but, if I had been able to, my guess is that this New Land recording would win hands down. Sleeve notes are by Leonard Feather and there is also some inside info on the band from Sides, the drummer on the session - Lance

Release date August 26.

Soul Vintage; Blues For Thelma; Queen Bey; Are You Real?; Mi Hermano.

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