Bebop Spoken There

Melissa Aldana: ''Having to play a ballads album, which is something very revealing for a saxophone player, would help me to question some new aspects of how to go deeper into sound." (DownBeat May, 2026)

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

18621 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 18 years ago. 485 of them this year alone and, so far this month (June 14) 37

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

From This Moment On

June

Thu 18: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ The Millstone, Mill Rise, South Gosforth, Newcastle. 1:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Castillo Nuevo Orquesta @ Pilgrim, Newcastle. £6.50. 7:30pm (doors).
Thu 18: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free.
Thu 18: Paul Skerritt @ Angels' Share, St George's Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle NE2 2SX. 8:00pm. Free. Booking advised (0191 200 1975). Skerritt w. backing tapes.

Fri 19: Joe Steels Group @ The Lit & Phil, Newcastle. 1:00pm. SOLD OUT!
Fri 19: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 19: New Orleans Preservation Jazz Band @ The Oxbridge Hotel, Stockton. 1:00pm. £5.00.
Fri 19: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Hotel Gotham, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Fri 19: Ferg’s Imaginary Big Band @ Cobalt Studios, Newcastle. 7:00pm. £14.33., £11.16., £8.00.
Fri 19: Martin Litton @ Sunderland Minster. 7:30pm. £13.01 (inc. bf); £6.50 (inc. bf); £15.00 on the door. Solo piano. CANCELLED!
Fri 19: Jools Holland’s R&B Orchestra @ Hippodrome, Darlington. 7:30pm. Joe Webb support set.
Fri 19: Hot Club du Nord @ Warkworth Memorial Hall. 7:30pm.
Fri 19: Jive Aces: The Roots of Rock & Roll @ The Cluny, Newcastle. 7:30pm (doors). £20.00 + bf.

Sat 20: Tyne Valley Big Band @ Tynedale Beer Festival, Corbridge. 5:00-6:00pm.
Sat 20: Castillo Nuevo Trio @ Revoluçion de Cuba, Newcastle. 5:30pm. Free.
Sat 20: Red Kites Jazz @ Staithes Café, Dunston. 7:00-9:00pm. Free.
Sat 20: New Century Ragtime Orchestra @ Trinity Church, Gosforth, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £20.00. NCRO w. guests Dean Stockdale & Nick Ward.

Sun 21: From Lagos to Longbenton: Unity in the Community @ Sunderland Minster. From 1:30pm. Free. A multi-bill Unity in the Community event, inc. From Lagos to Longbenton.
Sun 21: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Table reservations (0191 261 8000). Skerritt w. backing tapes.
Sun 21: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 2:30pm. Free. Trio w. Graham Hardy.
Sun 21: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Tweed River Jazz Band @ Barrels Ale House, Berwick. 7:00pm. Free.
Sun 21: Magpies of Swing @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 22: Friends of Jazz @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

Tue 23: Alan Law Trio @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 2:00pm. Free.
Tue 23: Jude Murphy & Dan Stanley @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Wed 24: Vieux Carré Hot 4 @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Wed 24: Darlington Big Band @ Darlington & Simpson Rolling Mills Social Club, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free. Rehearsal session (open to the public).
Wed 24: Take it to the Bridge @ The Globe, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free.

Monday, January 09, 2023

Album review: Eric Goletz - Standard-ized!

Eric Goletz (trombone, piano); Henry Heintish (guitar); Jim Ridl (piano); Brian Glassman (electric/acoustic bass/contra bass)); Marco Panascia (elec. bass on 1 tk); Steve Johns (drums); Joe Mowatt (perc.); Robin Zeh, Paul Woodiel (violins); Michael Roth, David Gold (violas); Sarah Hewitt-Roth (cello) + Don Braden (sop sax); LaJuan Carter (vocals).

It's only Jan. 9 and I'm being hit with so many albums that are right up my (52nd) Street. It's unbelievable! Perhaps the suits/skirts in their ivory towers have finally got around to taking in as to where BSH's - well mine actually - heart lies. Lydia, Holly, Ann (get well soon) and Kari are exceptions but often some of the albums received are beyond my ken. Fortunately, we have a team capable of dealing with both extreme of the jazz spectrum.

This one ain't going nowhere!

My kind of music. Great trombone playing by the leader, great arrangements, great tunes. Even that silly Nature Boy song is given a stay of execution by Carter's effective vocal. Such is her voice that the words become irrelevant to her sound. I feared she might push her luck on Summertime but it was left for Goletz to play a virtuoso trombone solo aided and abetted by equally punchy solos from piano and drums. When you hear Gershwin's composition without brother Ira's words it becomes a whole different ballgame. They were fine in the context of Porgy and Bess but, away from  the cotton fields and the jumpin' fish, the imagery is lost in a posh concert hall or a swish niterie like Crombie's old Jazz Café in Newcastle.

Carter does, however, return to do a job on Windmills of Your Mind, this girl has a great range and needs to be heard.

Braden pops up on three tracks - nice sop-saxing - and the string section saw away on a few without doing any harm but, in the main, this is Goletz's day and he seizes the moment. ERIC GOLETZ - remember the name when the next Downbeat Poll comes around. Lance

Release date Feb. 10 on Consolidated Artist Productions.

Now's the Time; Just in Time; Caravan; Nutville; Nature Boy; Train Shuffle; Jungle Juice; Mayreh; The Summer Knows; Summertime; Sugar; Windmills of Your Mind; Overjoyed; Now's the Time (outro).

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