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Bebop Spoken There

Trevor Mires: ''My mum is a Dean Martin fan: I'm not, so I would grab my skateboard and get out of the house whenever I heard "Everybody Loves Somebody, Sometime." ". (Jazzwise, April 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

17957 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 278 of them this year alone and, so far, 34 this month (April 14).

From This Moment On ...

April 2025.

Sun 20: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 20: Salty Dog @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. Free. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 20: Spilt Milk @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 7:00-9:00pm. Free. Nolan Brothers (vocal harmonies).
Sun 20: Tweed River Jazz Band @ The Barrels Ale House, Berwick-upon-Tweed. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 20: C.A.L.I.E @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 21: Newcastle Record Fair @ Copthorne Hotel, Newcastle. 10:00am. Going in search of the Buddy Bolden cylinder…
Mon 21: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ Newcastle House Hotel, Rothbury. 7:30pm. Coquetdale Jazz.

Wed 23: Vieux Carré Jazzmen @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 23: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 23: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. CANCELLED!

Thu 24: Mary Coughlan @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £33.80. Blues, jazz etc.
Thu 24: Darlington Big Band @ Dorman’s Club, Middlesbrough. 8:30pm.

Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT! Duo performance.
Fri 25: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums).
Fri 25: Jason Isaacs @ STACK, Exchange Sq., Middlesbrough. 4:00-6:00pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Fri 25: Red Kites Jazz @ Land of Oak & Iron, Winlaton Mill. 6:00-9:00pm. Free.
Fri 25: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Yamaha Music School, Blyth. 7:30pm. £15.00. at the door; £14.35. (inc £0.35 bf) online, in advance.
Fri 25: Struggle Buggy @ The White Room, Stanley. 7:45pm. Rhythm & blues.
Fri 25: Paul Skerritt Big Band @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £20.30., £18.00. All-star big band.
Fri 25: Andrea Vicari Trio @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. Vicari (piano); Andy Champion (double bass); Russ Morgan (drums). An Opus 4 Jazz Club event.

Sat 26: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 26: Vasilis Xenopoulos & Paul Edis @ Elvet Methodist Church, Durham. 7:30pm. Tickets: £12.00. + bf. Duo performance.
Sat 26: Neil Cowley Trio @ The Glasshouse, Gateshead. 8:00pm. £22.50.
Sat 26: Pete Tanton & the Cuban Heels @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. Free. 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

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Album review: Oscar Peterson - On a Clear Day

Oscar Peterson (piano); Niels Henning Ørsted Pederson (bass); Louis Hayes (drums).

I suppose the moment when jazz moved from an interest to an obsession with me was one evening in March 1955 at the City Hall, Newcastle. A concert comprising two sets. The first by the Oscar Peterson Trio and the second by Ella Fitzgerald with Don Abney on piano.

The bass and drums playing on that life changing evening, were Sammy Stokes and Tony Kinsey - both British.*

On this live album recorded for Radio Zurich in 1971, Peterson is at his supreme best and, with fellow legends Pederson and Hayes on bass and drums respectively, I'd be hard pushed to find a better piano trio recording before or since unless more buried treasures are unearthed by his widow, Kelly Peterson, who provides the album's notes.

Tatum was wonderful, and even though Oscar himself might have disagreed, when it came to sheer swing and a comparable technique, Peterson was, and still is even now - almost 15 years after his death (Dec. 23, 2007) - in my eyes, the greatest jazz pianist ever.

The standards are taken at various tempi ranging from the dreamy romanticism expressed in the emotive Young and Foolish which segues into A Time For Love, to Soft Winds that hits a nice groove before moving up a gear, to an amazing Mack the Knife

Neither Louis, Ella or Bobby Darin came within a mile of this version and he didn't even need to sing! An extended out of tempo introduction had me wondering if I really was listening to Kurt Weill's song from The Threepenny Opera. The theme emerges briefly before our boy does something rash - he exceeds the piano speed limit by about a 1000 bars a minute!

I've concentrated on Oscar who rarely shared a stage with an equal but, in Niels Henning Ørsted Pederson, he found a soulmate. Ray Brown, himself a legend, had provided sound support in previous Peterson trios without ever overshadowing the leader. However, the Danish bass player was different, he met the American at the same level which maybe inspired both of them to the amazing heights they reached during their time working together.

Louis Hayes took a relative backseat but did the business driving it along. Any drummer who could handle the tempos that Oscar set had to be the best. He came in off the back of Cannonball's quintet which would stand him in good stead and he slotted in well.

If this sounds like a rave review then I've got it right! Lance

Available Nov. 27 - Mack Avenue Music Group (and usual suspects)

*The jazz press, as was their wont in 1955, praised the Americans but slagged off the two Brits who, to my ears, were excellent. But that's how it was back then - British rhythm sections and Scottish goalkeepers were fair game for those who'd never played an instrument or kicked a football but could spell and touch type.

The Lamp is Low; Younger than Springtime; On a Clear Day; Young and Foolish/A Time For Love; Soft winds; Mack the Knife; Where Do I Go From Here? On the Trail.

1 comment :

Russell said...

Well, I think you've sold the album to the BSH readership!

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