Total Pageviews

Bebop Spoken There

Stan Woodward: ''We're part of the British jazz scene, but we don't play London jazz. We play Newcastle jazz. The Knats album represents many things, but most importantly that Newcastle isn't overlooked". (DownBeat, 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

17904 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 225 of them this year alone and, so far, 72 this month (March 24).

From This Moment On ...

MARCH 2025.

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: Hannabiell & Midnight Blue @ King’s Hall, Newcastle University. 1:15pm. Free.
Thu 27: Michael Littlefield & Scott Taylor @ The Harbour View, Roker, Sunderland. 8:00pm. Free. Superb blues duo.

Fri 28: Giles Strong Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00 SOLD OUT!.
Fri 28: Classic Swing @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Fri 28: Rendezvous Jazz @ The Monkseaton Arms. 1:00pm. Free.
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: Pete Tanton’s Chet Set @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm.
Fri 28: Sue Ferris Quintet @ Traveller’s Rest, Darlington. 8:00pm. £10.00. Opus 4 Jazz Club.
Fri 28: Mostly Moonlight @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Fri 28: Juliana Day & Manon McCoy @ Cumberland Arms, Byker, Newcastle. 8:00pm. £12.00.; £10.00. advance. JNE.

Sat 29: Edison Herbert Trio @ The Vault, Darlington 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 29: Doris Day Story @ Phoenix Theatre, Blyth. 7:30pm.
Sat 29: Squabble! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.

Sun 30: Jan Spencelayh & Dave Archbold @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 30: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 30: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 30: Jamil Sheriff Trio w. Nadim Teimoori @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Mon 31: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.

APRIL 2025

Tue 01: Jam session @ The Black Swan, Newcastle. 7:30pm. Free. House trio: Joe Steels, Paul Grainger, Mark Robertson.
Tue 01: Customs House Big Band @ The Masonic Hall, North St., Ferryhill DL17 8HX. 7:30pm. Free.

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

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Album review: Tyler Mitchell Octet - Sun Ra's Journey Featuring Marshall Allen

Tyler Mitchell (bass); Marshall Allen (alto sax, EVI); Chris Hemingway (tenor sax); Nicoletta Manzini (alto sax); Giveton Gelin (trumpet); Farid Barron (piano); Wayne Smith (drums); Ron McBee, Elson Nacimento (perc.)

I  must confess that I never listened to much of the Sun Ra Arkestra. In fact I doubt if I listened to them at all! All the hocus-pocus about being from Saturn and the strange costumes were a complete turn off for me.

However, the discovery that he had history with Fletcher Henderson made me think again and when I heard the Tenement Jazz Band, who never got closer to Saturn than Edinburgh, playing one of Sun Ra's compositions - Chocolate Avenue - I greeted this album with less suspicion than I may otherwise  have done.

Tyler Mitchell, Marshall Allen and the rhythm section are all alumni of  the urban spaceman and this is the former's tribute to his galactic master.

There's little if any Fletcher Henderson here and even less of the Tenements but still plenty of good, honest, jazz. When the music does head off beyond Birdland's gravitational pull the resultant sounds, chaotic and, frantic as they are, sound just right. Any mouldy olde figges, and I suppose that these days us old beboppers come into the second or third generation of that category, might come to realise that jazz didn't end with the death of Jelly Roll, Louis, Duke, Bird or Trane but that, thanks to their groundwork, it continues to develop.

Mitchell's bass playing, as well as his compositions and arrangements, are no less than the project deserved whilst Allen's alto sound is totally his own. Dark, fluffy, almost as if Coleman Hawkins had played alto, it is original and a not unattractive alternative to the more traditional sounds of Parker, Pepper, Desmond, Woods etc.

Certainly the music of Sun Ra, on the strength of this album, deserves its place in the jazz hierarchy. Where exactly is up to you - the listener. Lance

Release date: Jan. 20 on Cellar Music Group.

Carefree; Velvet; La Dolce Vita; Dancing Shadows; Eddie Harris; Discipline; Bouncing at Smalls; Skippy; New Dawn; Cosmic Hop; Love in Outer Space; Fate in a Pleasant Land.

No comments :

Blog Archive