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Bebop Spoken There

Sullivan Fortner: ''I always judge it by the bass player: If the bass player is happy, it's going to be a good night". (DownBeat, February 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

17805 (and counting) posts since we started blogging 17 years ago. 126 of them this year alone and, so far, 51 this month (Feb.16).

From This Moment On ...

February 2025

Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ St. James’ STACK, Newcastle. 12:30-2:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Jason Isaacs @ Seaburn STACK, Seaburn. 3:30pm-5:30pm. Free. Vocalist Isaacs working with backing tapes.
Sat 22: Abbie Finn Trio @ The Vault, Darlington. 7:00pm. Free.
Sat 22: Mississippi MacDonald @ Claypath Deli, Durham. 7:00pm. Blues.
Sat 22: Lindsay Hannon: Tom Waits for No Man @ Old Cinema Laundrette, Durham. 7:45pm. £16.50. SOLD OUT!
Sat 22: Michael Woods @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig. Country blues guitar & vocals.

Sun 23: Musicians Unlimited @ Jackson’s Wharf, Hartlepool. 1:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Paul Skerritt @ Hibou Blanc, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free. Vocalist Skerritt working with backing tapes.
Sun 23: More Jam @ The Globe, Newcastle. 2:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Mark Williams Trio @ Queen’s Hall, Hexham. 3:00pm.
Sun 23: Ruth Lambert Trio @ The Juke Shed, Union Quay, North Shields. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: 4B @ The Ticket Office, Whitley Bay. 3:00pm. Free.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam Sandwich! @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 7:00pm. A ‘Jar on the Bar’ gig.
Sun 23: Mississippi MacDonald @ Georgian Theatre, Stockton. 3:00pm. Blues.
Sun 23: Mu Quintet @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.
Sun 23: Jazz Jam @ Fabio’s, Saddler St., Durham. 8:00pm. Free. A Durham University Jazz Society promotion. All welcome.

Mon 24: Harmony Brass @ Cullercoats Crescent Club. 1:00pm. Free.
Mon 24: Michael Young Trio @ The Engine Room, Sunderland. 6:30pm. Free.

Tue 25: ?

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: Jamie McCredie @ The Globe, Newcastle. 8:00pm.

Fri 28: Luis Verde Quartet @ The Gala, Durham. 1:00pm. £8.00. SOLD OUT!
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: Knats @ Lubber Fiend, Newcastle. 7:30pm. £11.50. (inc bf.). Album launch gig. Support act TBC.
Fri 28: Black is the Color of My Voice @ The Gala, Durham. 7:30pm. Apphia Campbell’s one-woman show inspired by the life of Nina Simone, performed by Florence Odumosu.
Fri 28: Great North Big Band Jazz Festival: Musicians Unlimited @ Park View Community Centre, Chester-le-Street. 8:00pm. £10.00. (Weekend ticket £20.00., available on the door). Day 1/3. Musicians Unlimited in concert.
Fri 28: Redwell @ Prohibition Bar, Newcastle. 8:00pm. 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

Friday, March 31, 2023

Lakecia Benjamin Quartet + the Deschanel Gordon Trio @ Jazz Café, Camden, London - March 27

Lakecia Benjamin (alto sax); Zaccai Curtis (piano); EJ Strickland (drums); Ivan Taylor (bass).

Lakecia Benjamin proudly wears her John Coltrane/Pharoah Sanders influences on her golden leather jacketed sleeve. It’s what was the new thing 60 years ago but now remade for this century.

Her opening solo is an explosive statement of intent. There is no build-up, no subtlety; with the trio she is part of an avalanche of sound, climbing, searching, soaring, her long locks wrapped around her face and horn as she plays. Her music is rooted in the melancholy of the blues with a ferocious defiant refusal to accept the world as it is built on top. One of her songs turns into a rap “A shot rings out, A black man is down, IT’S NOT FOR ME.” She and Strickland face off, challenging each other to go louder, to bring more of it, whatever it might be. Benjamin is an energetic performer, there is no stillness to her; the trio take station at the edges of the small stage leaving room for her leaps and wanderings during the set.

She slows proceedings at one point for a duet with Curtis on Amazing Grace, her solo pierces the sky and follows that with a melancholic swoop back to earth. Up next, Jubilation is a return to the thunder with Strickland’s drumming even mightier than what has gone before; after the duet with Curtis, this is a duel with Strickland. Taylor is the anchor at the back holding it all together as the theme turns up on the sax, no, it’s over there on the piano, solos everywhere but great ensemble playing too.

She introduces the band and herself (Lake CIA, she says, “Like the Government”) and then, for the avoidance of doubt, Benjamin leads off the next tune on her own and her solo leads us into a fast and furious My Favorite Things. Steve said “She’s fantastic” and then he had to leave to catch the last train. My new best friend, Ian the postman from Muswell Hill, and me were grinning at each other like daft things. Jazz as a communal force for good! Her album, Phoenix, (reviewed here on BSH) is tremendous and still my favourite of the year so far, but the live experience is so much better!

I told her manager afterwards to bring her to Newcastle. She said she’d look into it.

Deschanel Gordon (piano) plus bass and drums

You get used to jazz gigs being a first hour, half hour break, second hour and home with no support and that a support act always comes as a bit of a surprise and the fear that, if they’re not very good, you’ve wasted time that could have been better spent listening to the headliner. Not tonight, however. Deschanel Gordon won the Young Jazz Musician of the Year Award in 2020 and, as my mate Steve said, “He can really play.” There’s touches of Oscar Peterson in there and, at other times, thoughts turn to Herbie Hancock and Count Basie but most of the time I was busy being impressed by the delicacy of his touch and the complexity of some of the rhythms he and the others (whose names I didn’t catch) ran through. Less complex moments came with a reggae lilt and a hint of Gershwin in a more romantic interlude. Half an hour very well spent. Dave Sayer (and Steve)

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