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Bebop Spoken There

Steve Coleman: ''If you don't keep learning, your mind slows down. Use it or lose it''. (DownBeat, January 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

17733 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 53 of them this year alone and, so far, 53 this month (Jan. 20).

From This Moment On ...

January 2025

Wed 22: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 22: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 22: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 22: Pasadena Roof Orchestra @ Fire Station, Sunderland. 7:30pm.

Thu 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ The Holystone, Whitley Road, Holystone. 1:00pm. Free. Fortnightly.
Thu 23: Jazz Appreciation North East @ Brunswick Methodist Church, Newcastle NE1 7BJ. 2:00pm. £4.00. Subject: Obituaries 2024.
Thu 23: Jason Isaacs @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:30-6:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Thu 23: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 24: Zoë Gilby Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 24: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 24: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 24: Creakin’ Bones & the Sunday Dinners @ Lindisfarne Social Club, Wallsend. 9:00pm. Admission: TBC. Jazz, blues , jump jive, rock ‘n’ roll.

Sat 25: Boys of Brass @ St James’ STACK, Newcastle. 3:30-5:30pm. Free.
Sat 25: New '58 Jazz Collective @ Jackson's Wharf, Hartlepool. 6:30pm (doors). Free. A Burns' Night event. Jazz, swing, funk, soul, blues etc.
Sat 25: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Parish Hall, St Barnabas’ Church, Rowlands Gill. 7:30pm. £10.00. BYOB (tea & coffee available), raffle. Proceeds to St Barnabas’ Church. Performance feat. Shayo (vocals).
Sat 25: Jack & Jay’s Songbook @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 26: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Graham Hardy Eclectic Quartet @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 26: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 26: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:30pm. Free.
Sun 26: Gratkowski, Tramontana, Beresford, Affifi @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00. JNE.
Sun 26: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 27: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 28: ???

Wed 29: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 29: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.
Wed 29: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).

Thu 30: Matters Unknown (aka Jonathan Enser, Nubiyan Twist) + support TBA @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 8:00pm (7:00pm doors). £12.22 (gig & food); £9:04 (gig only).
Thu 30: Soznak @ The Mill Tavern, Hebburn. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 30: Struggle Buggy @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues.

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

Wednesday, November 02, 2022

Album review: Allan Botschinsky Quintet - Live at The Tivoli Gardens 1996

Allan Botschinsky (flugel); Bent Jædig (tenor sax); Jacob Fischer (guitar); Jasper Lundgaard (bass); Alex Riel (drums).

This could well be my CD of the year even though it was recorded live in 1996. Music such as this is timeless irrespective of where or when it was recorded which, in this case, happened to be at Copenhagen's  Tivoli Gardens on July 6, 1996.

Nothing freaky, just pure hard bop that swings as so many of the Copenhagen cats did in those days which, considering the number of American jazzmen that either stayed or passed through the Danish capital around that time, isn't surprising. 

Botschinsky, who died in 2020 aged 80, played alongside most of those visitors including, Getz, Dexter, Konitz and Kenny Dorham who may have had a strong influence on Botschinsky although when it comes to ballad playing he owes nothing to no one. I know that last sentence is a double negative but the trick is to decide who that someone - if anyone - is.

Jædig leaves the listener in no doubt as to where his roots lie. Dexter with a nod towards Ben. Dex on the up tempo numbers, Ben on the ballads. He spent 14 years with the Danish Radio Big Band as well as recording with Philly Joe Jones and others.

The two horns complement each other sometimes interspersed with a Fischer guitar solo. On Donna Lee he almost eclipses them both before Lundgaard comes forth but most certainly not fourth. With Riel driving them on there were no losers - just winners. 

I'm already on a high and I've yet to hear the second disc of this doubler!

Well let me just say it's as good, maybe even better, than the first which it isn't - that would be impossible although It Might as Well be Spring could be a clincher and a contender for that year's best ballad performance. Not just in Denmark but anywhere. Lyricism all round from these great Danes.

If there was a TARDIS near me I'd be in it and heading for Copenhagen, July 6, 1996. However, as I've never watched Doctor Who I wouldn't know what to do if I did find one.

Fortunately this 2 x CD set allows me to listen to the music in the comfort of my own home and the way the buses are these days who knows how long you'd have to wait to time travel - probably ages! Lance

Allan Botschinsky Quintet - Live at The Tivoli Gardens 1996 available on Stunt Records 0n Nov. 11. BANDCAMP.

Four; A Song for Anna Sophie; It's You or No One; I Thought About You; What's Knew?; Donna Lee; What is This Thing Called Love?; All of You; Rhythm-a-Ning;It Might as Well be Spring; I'll Remember April.

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