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Bebop Spoken There

George Porter Jr.: ''To me, syncopation is like jazz. It wasn't meant for the masses. It was meant just for a hip few". (DownBeat, May 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

18043 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 364 of them this year alone and, so far, 42 this month (May 15).

From This Moment On ...

MAY 2025

Sat 17: Teresa Watson Band @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 4:00pm. Free. Blues.
Sat 17: The Society Quartet @ Hilton Garden Inn, Sunderland. 6:00pm. Tel: 0191 500 9494. £26.00 (inc. two course meal). Line-up: Jason Holcomb, Hannah Taylor, Alix Shepherd & Abbie Finn.
Sat 17: Milne Glendinning Band @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 17: Archie Brown & the Young Bucks @ Billy Bootleggers, Ouseburn, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. Rhythm & blues, Americana etc.
Sat 17: Bellavana @ Newcastle Arts Centre. 7:30-10:00pm. Free. A Late Shows event.
Sat 17: Rockin’ Turner Brothers @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Rockabilly, Western swing etc.

Sun 18: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Seaburn. 12 noon-2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sun 18: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 18: Ruth Lambert & Giles Strong @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 18: Steve Summers Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 19: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 19: Lewis Watson Quartet @ The Black Bull, Blaydon. 8:00pm. £10.00.

Tue 20: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Stu Collingwood, Paul Grainger, Bailey Rudd.
Tue 20: Alexia Gardner Quintet @ Pleased to Meet You, Bridge St., Morpeth NE61 1ND. 8:00pm.

Wed 21: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 21: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public). b Wed 21: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Thu 22: Nuevo Castillo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £5.00.
Thu 22: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:30-9:15pm. Free.
Thu 22: Pedal Point Trio @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Fri 23: Dean Stockdale Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. ‘Celebrating Oscar’.
Fri 23: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 23: Anna Reay & Deon Krishnan @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 4:00-6:00pm. Free.
Fri 23: Joe Steels Group @ The Pele, Corbridge. 7:00pm. £10.00. + £1.55. bf. A Northumberland Jazz Festival fringe event.
Fri 23: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Fri 23: Gaz Hughes Quartet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm.
Fri 23: Strictly Smokin’ Big Band @ The Witham, Barnard Castle. 8:00pm. £19.00.; £17.00. ‘Time After Time’.

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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