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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

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. CANCELLED!
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: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free. THIS WEEK ONLY JAMES BIRKETT (guitar)!
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.

MARCH 2025

Sat 01: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 11:00am. £15.00. Day 2/3.
Sat 01: TJ Johnson Band @ St Augustine’s Parish Centre, Darlington. 12:30pm. £10.00.
Sat 01: Play Jazz! workshop @ The Globe, Newcastle. 1:30pm. £25.00. Tutor: Steve Glendinning. Get your funk on! Enrol at: learning@jazz.coop.
Sat 01: Shunyata Improvisation Group @ The Watch House, Cullercoats. 2:00-3:30pm. Free.
Sat 01: Ray Stubbs R&B All Stars @ Billy Bootleggers. Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Struggle Buggy @ The Peacock, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Blues band.
Sat 01: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 01: Rendezvous Jazz @ Red Lion, Earsdon. 8:00pm. £3.00.
Sat 01: Jack & Jay’s Vintage Songbook @ 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

Thursday, October 06, 2022

Scottish drummer is behind major New Zealand jazz release

(Press release)

Drummer John Rae, a former leading light on the Scottish jazz scene, is the force behind New Zealand’s most keenly awaited new jazz album this autumn.

Questions in Red is the latest recording by saxophonist Oscar Lavën, one of New Zealand’s most widely respected musicians, and Rae is both the drummer on the album and the owner of the record company, Wellington-based Thick Records NZ, behind its release.

“Oscar is an incredibly prolific and versatile musician,” says Rae, who is originally from Edinburgh. “He is as adept on trumpet, bassoon and clarinet as he is on the saxophone and he has played in just about every style of jazz there is, as well as working in chamber music, blues, pop and whatever other genre of music needs a great reeds specialist.”

Rae led bands in Scotland including the award-winning Celtic Feet and the John Rae Collective, as well as playing in the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra and pianist Brian Kellock’s trio, before emigrating to Wellington in 2008. He made his own recording debut at the age of sixteen, with his contemporary, saxophonist Tommy Smith in 1982, and has since appeared on more than seventy albums.

“It’s still a thrill to go into a studio, see the red light go on and know you have to deliver,” he says. “There’s been a buzz about Oscar’s album since before it was recorded because everyone on the scene knows him and he’s at an exciting stage of his career where he’s reached a high level and is ready for international recognition.

Rae and the band were conscious that they had expectations to meet.

“I think we met them,” he says. “I’m really proud to be involved with the album as a participant and from the label point of view.”

New Zealand has a history of producing jazz musicians who have gone on to success across the world. The pianists Mike Nock, Alan Broadbent and Dave McRae all went to the U.S. in the 1960s and worked in New York and elsewhere with musicians including Buddy Rich, Woody Herman, Sheila Jordan and John Handy. More recently, saxophonists Jasmine Lovell-Smith, Lucien Johnson and Jake Baxendale, who have all enjoyed acclaim in Europe with their latest albums, have followed suit.

“It’s something New Zealanders do – the OE, or the overseas experience,” says Rae. “You find musicians who have studied in America, like Jasmine, or spent their twenties in Paris or Berlin, like Lucien and Jake, and have returned home to give the next generation the benefit of what they’ve learned. Oscar has done that to some extent and we’re hoping that Questions in Red, which is released on 22nd October, will really help to establish him with the wider jazz audience.” 

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